Senior Project lead

Present in India since 1953, Thales is headquartered in Noida and has other operational offices and sites spread across Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai, among others. Over 2200 employees are working with Thales and its joint ventures in India. Since the beginning, Thales has been playing an essential role in India s growth story by sharing its technologies and expertise in Defence, Aerospace and Cyber & Digital sectors. Thales has two engineering competence centres in India - one in Noida focused on Cyber & Digital business, while the one in Bengaluru focuses on hardware, software and systems engineering capabilities for both the civil and defence sectors, serving global needs. The Group has also established an MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) facility in Gurugram to provide comprehensive avionics maintenance and repair services to Indian airlines and support the growth of the local aviation industry. Engineering Delivery Manager - Identity Platform (AI-Driven SDLC) Overview Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery across multiple squads (scope, plan, dependencies, risks, and outcomes).
• Lead, coach and develop ~20 engineers; set clear expectations and give timely feedback.
• Establish delivery discipline : predictable cadence, transparent reporting, and continuous improvement.
• Champion an AI-first engineering culture ; ensure AI tooling is used safely and effectively.
• Ensure engineering excellence : quality, security, reliability, and operability by design.

AI-Driven SDLC & Transformation

• Embed our AI-driven SDLC (AI-assisted design, coding, testing, documentation, and release readiness) into day-to-day delivery.
• Drive adoption of AI ways of working (guardrails, playbooks, and training) in partnership with Enablement/Architecture.
• Measure impact and improve (cycle time, defect escape rate, automation coverage, and developer experience) and act on insights.
• Ensure responsible use of AI aligned to security , privacy , and compliance expectations.

Delivery Execution

• Shape and adjust squads based on roadmap priorities, skills, and capacity.
• Run planning and execution rituals ; manage dependencies and cross-team alignment.
• Remove impediments , manage delivery risk early, and drive predictable releases .
• Use metrics to improve flow efficiency, quality, and operational readiness.

Stakeholder Partnership

• Partner with Product to clarify scope, acceptance criteria, and success metrics.
• Provide clear delivery commitments , trade-offs, and status- no surprises .
• Align with Architecture / Security / Operations to ensure designs are scalable and compliant.

People, Talent & Operations

• Hire and retain diverse talent ; build capability plans with explicit AI upskilling .
• Set performance expectations , coach growth, and build a feedback culture aligned to Thales leadership .
• Own capacity and execution tracking ; escalate risks with options.
• Ensure operational excellence (on-call readiness, incident learnings, and continuous improvement).

What You Bring

• 7+ years in software engineering with 3+ years leading delivery and/or people in multi-team environments.
• Track record delivering cloud-native, distributed and security-sensitive platforms (identity experience a plus).
• Strong delivery management : planning, dependency/risk management, release management, and stakeholder communication.
• Modern SDLC practices (CI/CD, test automation, observability, DevSecOps).
• Proven change leadership : scaling new tools and practices, including AI-assisted development .
• AI fluency : hands-on experience with AI coding/testing/documentation tools and an ability to coach safe, effective adoption .

Success Looks Like

• Predictable delivery : roadmaps translated into realistic plans and on-time releases with transparent trade-offs.
• AI-driven SDLC adopted across squads with measurable improvements in cycle time , automation coverage , and quality .
• Strong engineering outcomes : security and reliability targets met; reduced incident/defect escape rates.
• High-performing teams : clear expectations, visible growth, and healthy engagement/retention.

Reporting Line