Director - Performance Engineering

Job Description QualiZeal is looking for a senior leadership professional to lead its Performance Engineering Center of Excellence (CoE) and drive the transformation toward AI-driven Performance Intelligence and Reliability Engineering. This role is responsible for end-to-end ownership of performance strategy, delivery excellence, innovation, and business growth, while embedding AI, observability, and platform-led execution models into the organization. The ideal candidate will act as a strategic advisor to clients, a delivery leader, and an innovation driver, ensuring scalable, resilient, and high-performing systems across enterprise environments. Key Responsibilities Define and execute the Performance Engineering and Reliability strategy aligned to business growth Lead global performance delivery across multiple accounts ensuring SLA adherence and quality Drive AI-led transformation using platforms and accelerators Establish standard performance KPIs (SLOs, SLAs, Perf Index) across engagements Integrate observability and SRE practices into performance lifecycle Lead pre-sales, solutioning, and client advisory discussions Build and mentor high-performing teams across performance, SRE, and observability Drive platform-led delivery adoption (60%+ target) Enable shift-left and shift-right performance practices Own governance, OKRs, metrics, and executive reporting Qualifications Bachelors or Master’s degree in Computer Science / Engineering / related field 18+ years of experience in Performance Engineering / QE / SRE 5+ years in leadership roles managing CoEs or large-scale global teams Proven experience in enterprise client engagement and delivery ownership Strong exposure to cloud-native architectures and distributed systems Must-Have Skills Deep expertise in Performance Engineering tools (JMeter, LoadRunner, k6, NeoLoad) Strong knowledge of Observability/APM tools (Datadog, Dynatrace, AppDynamics, Prometheus, Grafana) Experience with cloud platforms (AWS / Azure) for scalable performance testing Strong understanding of: Microservices and API-driven architectures Distributed systems performance challenges CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub, DevOps tools) Proven ability to lead large teams and manage multi-client delivery Experience in pre-sales, RFP solutioning, and client stakeholder management Strong communication and executive-level presentation skills Desired Skills (Good to Have) Experience with AI/GenAI in Performance Engineering Understanding of: RAG architectures AI workload performance (latency, token usage, throughput) Exposure to SRE practices (error budgets, reliability engineering models) Experience in building or scaling platform-led delivery models Knowledge of SAP, Salesforce, or enterprise packaged applications performance Familiarity with cost optimization and performance efficiency in cloud environments Experience in defining and tracking Performance Index / business-driven KPIs Leadership Competencies Strategic thinking with execution focus Ability to influence CXO-level stakeholders Strong ownership mindset and accountability Balance of innovation + delivery + revenue focus High emotional intelligence and team leadership capability Success Metrics 60% adoption of platform-led performance delivery Improved delivery efficiency and SLA adherence (>95%) Creation of client success case studies with measurable outcomes Increased contribution to revenue through performance-led engagements Establishment of AI-driven performance frameworks across accounts