Cialfo is a leading platform connecting students, higher education institutions, and counselors through technology-driven solutions. Launched in 2017 with a mission to make education accessible to 100 million students, Cialfo provides a range of mobile and web solutions to students, K-12 institutions, and higher education institutions. We’re one of the fastest-growing tech startups in the region, consistently charting new heights!

This position is with Cialfo and BridgeU, one of the brands under Manifest Global, which also includes Explore and Kaaiser. 

About This Role

We are looking for a Senior Marketing Manager to own both go-to-market strategy and pipeline generation for the Cialfo and BridgeU K12 platform. This is a high-ownership, hands-on role that combines the strategic depth of a Product Marketing Lead with the execution rigour of a Demand Generation Lead.

You will own product positioning, messaging, competitive intelligence, and voice of the customer — while simultaneously driving pipeline across web, digital, lifecycle, events, social, and ABM. You will be the strategic link between what we build and how the market receives it, and you will own the campaign engine that converts that positioning into revenue.

You will use AI tools natively across the entire marketing lifecycle — from audience research and brief generation through to creative production, performance analysis, and reporting — and you will operate as a true partner to the K12 Sales team, owning MQL quality, the handoff process, and pipeline SLAs.

This role is based in Delhi, India and reports into the Head of Marketing, K12. This is an Individual Contributor role to begin with, with an opportunity to build and scale a team as the business grows.

What You Will Be Doing

Product Positioning & Messaging

• Build and own positioning, naming, and messaging frameworks for K12 product launches.
• Develop and maintain ICP definitions and buyer personas across K12 audience segments — schools, counselors, students, and parents — across different markets.
• Ensure messaging is regionally calibrated and relevant; what lands in LATAM needs a different frame in India or the Middle East.
• Partner with UX to align in-product messaging and onboarding flows.

Go-to-Market Execution

• Lead end-to-end GTM planning — from positioning through channel execution to adoption measurement.
• Drive feature adoption through in-product channels (email, push, in-app) coordinated with lifecycle triggers.
• Train internal stakeholders on every launch — Sales, CX, and leadership as a core GTM deliverable.
• Use AI tools to accelerate GTM output: content production, personalisation, testing, and reporting.

Pipeline Ownership & Demand Generation

• Own pipeline generation across all channels — digital, email, lifecycle, social, events, and ABM — fully attributed to revenue.
• Drive MQL volume and conversion rates across the K12 websites (Cialfo and BridgeU) and campaign channels.
• Manage pipeline efficiency from first touch to SQL handoff with clear SLA accountability to the Sales team.
• Set and track demand gen KPIs: MQL volume, cost per MQL, MQL-to-SQL conversion rate, pipeline contribution, and channel ROI.

Full-Funnel Campaign Execution

• Design and execute integrated campaigns across web, lifecycle email, social, events, content, and ABM.
• Own the campaign calendar, prioritising by pipeline impact and coordinating across channels for consistent messaging and timing.
• Manage external vendors and hold them accountable to performance targets, briefs, and delivery timelines.
• Build scalable campaign processes that enable faster execution and consistent cross-channel measurement.
• Run hypothesis-driven A/B tests across every channel — landing pages, email subject lines, ad creative, CTAs — and act on results fast.

Sales & CX Enablement

• Build and own the K12 enablement library: pitch decks, one-pagers, objection handling guides, battlecards, and demo talk tracks.
• Run regular enablement sessions with global Sales and CX teams.
• Partner with CX on customer success stories and reference content tied to specific product use cases.

Lifecycle & Email Marketing

• Own the full lifecycle marketing programme from first touch nurture through to re-engagement across the K12 audience of school leaders, administrators, and counselors.
• Design and manage automated workflows in HubSpot that move leads through the funnel and surface high-intent signals for Sales.
• Segment audiences by persona, behaviour, and funnel stage to deliver relevant messaging at the right moment.
• Monitor and improve lifecycle metrics: open rates, click-through rates, nurture-to-MQL conversion, and unsubscribe rates.

Voice of the Customer (VoC)

• Own Cialfo's structured VoC program for K12 — regular interviews and feedback loops with schools, counselors, and students across key markets.
• Synthesise qualitative and quantitative signals into actionable insights for Product, UX, and leadership.
• Build and maintain a VoC repository so customer language, pain points, and unmet needs are systematically captured and accessible.
• Run advisory panels or user research sprints in partnership with Product to inform the roadmap.

Win/Loss & Competitive Intelligence

• Own the win/loss program — conduct regular interviews with won and lost opportunities, synthesise findings, and present to Product, Sales, and leadership quarterly.
• Build and maintain competitive intelligence: monitor the landscape, develop battlecards, and keep Sales and CX equipped to win.
• Feed competitive and customer insights back into positioning and product feedback loops.

Social Demand Generation

• Run social as a demand gen channel — not just brand awareness — with a focus on generating engagement, traffic, and leads from LinkedIn and other relevant platforms.
• Build and manage social campaigns targeting school decision-makers across global markets.
• Collaborate with content and brand to ensure social creative is optimised for conversion, not just reach.

Website & Conversion Optimisation

• Own the Cialfo K12 website end to end — performance, conversion optimisation, lead capture, and user experience.
• Implement and monitor UTM tracking, campaign attribution, and accurate data capture across all entry points.
• Run continuous experiments on landing pages, forms, and conversion flows to improve MQL volume.

Sales Partnership & ABM

• Operate as a genuine partner to the K12 Sales org — attend pipeline reviews, understand deal velocity, and align demand gen programmes to Sales priorities.
• Own the MQL-to-SQL handoff process: lead scoring, SLA compliance, follow-up timelines, and lead quality feedback loops.
• Build and execute Account-Based Marketing programmes targeting priority school accounts across key markets.

AI-Powered Marketing Operations

• Use AI tools natively across the entire marketing lifecycle — from audience research, brief generation, and GTM planning through to creative production, performance analysis, and reporting.
• Use AI-assisted tools to design ad creative, write and test email copy, build landing page variants, and produce campaign reports faster than traditional workflows allow.
• Proactively evaluate and adopt new AI tools that improve campaign velocity, personalisation, or measurement accuracy.

Reporting & Optimisation

• Build and maintain dashboards tracking pipeline contribution, channel performance, funnel metrics, and campaign ROI.
• Report to the Head of Marketing, K12 on a regular cadence — with clear, data-driven recommendations.
• Translate campaign performance into budget reallocation decisions and channel prioritisation recommendations.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Embed with Product Management throughout the development cycle — from discovery through launch.
• Be the voice of the customer for product and engineering teams.
• Engage global CX and Sales teams across multiple countries to gather insights and drive regional relevance.

About You

• Qualifications
  • Bachelor's or Postgraduate degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field.
• Experience & Skills
  • 6-8 years of marketing experience in a B2B or B2B2C organisation, with meaningful depth across both demand generation and product marketing.
  • Proven ownership of pipeline from web, digital, lifecycle, events, and other channels — with clear revenue attribution and a track record of improving funnel metrics over time.
  • Demonstrated track record of owning product positioning, messaging, and launches across B2B products.
  • Strong understanding of the B2B funnel: MQLs, SQLs, pipeline stages, SLA management, and what it means to be a genuine partner to a Sales org.
  • Experience with ABM strategy and execution targeting institutional or enterprise buyers.
  • Experience running VoC programmes — structured customer research, interviews, or advisory panels that influenced product or positioning decisions.
  • Hands-on experience with a win/loss analysis programme — not just contributing to one, but shaping how it works.
  • Experience building Sales enablement programmes — training and structured rhythms, not just collateral.
  • Hands-on experience running campaigns across web, paid digital, lifecycle/email, and social. Comfortable owning multiple channels simultaneously.
  • Strong analytical skills — comfortable with attribution modelling, CRM data, dashboard building, and translating funnel insights into clear campaign and budget decisions.
  • Experience owning a B2B website — CMS management, lead capture optimisation, and working with UTMs and tracking logic to ensure all traffic is measurable.
  • Deep proficiency in HubSpot workflows, lifecycle stages, lead scoring, automation, attribution, and reporting.
  • Demonstrated use of AI tools in day-to-day marketing work — for planning, creative, copy, performance analysis, or reporting.
  • Experience launching products in India, South East Asia, China, Australia, or similar markets.
  • Proven ability to lead cross-functional work — aligning with Sales, Content, Product, and external agencies to execute campaigns and drive shared pipeline goals.
• Qualities
  • You are a hands-on operator. You don't just strategise — you build and execute across every channel.
  • You think in customer language — you can take a complex feature and turn it into a message a buyer or school counselor could resonate with.
  • You are a genuine Sales partner — you understand pipeline, speak in revenue terms, and take MQL quality personally.
  • You are the connective tissue between Product, Sales, CX, and UX — aligning people across functions and time zones without needing a title to do it.
  • You are AI-native. You reach for AI tools first and use them to move faster, not as a novelty.
  • You are a natural experimenter — you A/B test instinctively and always run campaigns with a clear hypothesis.
  • You are a strong lifecycle thinker — you understand how to move an audience through a funnel, not just generate top-of-funnel noise.
  • You are data-driven: product adoption metrics, VoC findings, win/loss patterns, and campaign performance all inform how you work.
  • You are equally comfortable at strategic and executional levels — you write the strategy and then go execute it yourself.
  • You are organised and detail-oriented across tracking, attribution, tagging, and reporting.
  • You thrive in fast-paced, high-ownership environments and can manage multiple campaigns simultaneously.
  • You have genuine curiosity about the K12 education space — the counselor workflow, the student journey, and the institutional buying process.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Manager – Digital Transformation, Utilities will serve as the central coordination and execution member for advancing digitalization across distribution utilities within the Grids of the Future portfolio. This is a high-impact, cross-functional role that bridges strategic programme delivery, stakeholder engagement, technology deployment, and institutional capacity building. The incumbent will work closely with distribution companies (DISCOMs), grid operators, government energy ministries, multilateral institutions, technology vendors, and civil society organisations to drive measurable transformation outcomes at scale.

The role demands equal command of sector-specific technical knowledge — particularly in distribution utility operations, grid modernisation, software engineering, and energy data infrastructure — and of the human and organisational dimensions of large-scale digital change. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable presenting a roadmap to a utility board, reviewing a technical architecture with an engineering team, negotiating a data-sharing protocol with a regulator, and steering a cross-vendor delivery sprint.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Digital Transformation Strategy and Programme Delivery

• Lead the design and execution of multi-year digital transformation roadmaps for distribution utilities, covering smart metering (AMI/AMR), SCADA/DMS upgrades, outage management systems (OMS), and integrated asset management platforms.
• Develop programme charters, milestone frameworks, KPI dashboards, and risk registers aligned with organisational priorities and donor/funder reporting requirements.
• Translate high-level transformation mandates into actionable work plans with clear ownership, resource allocation, and dependency mapping across technology, operations, and regulatory workstreams.
• Track and report programme progress to senior leadership, boards, and international stakeholders; prepare Board-ready briefings, donor reports, and policy submissions.
• Manage budget cycles, procurement processes, and contract oversight for digital initiatives, including vendor selection, SoW review, and performance monitoring.

Distribution Utility and Grid Digitalisation

• Provide technical advisory and implementation support to distribution utilities on grid digitalisation: smart grid architecture, IoT sensor deployment, SCADA integration, geographic information systems (GIS), and field force automation.
• Advise on regulatory and commercial frameworks for digital utilities: cost-of-service tariff mechanisms, regulatory asset base treatment of digital capex, and benchmarking against international best practice (EU DSO model, India RDSS, African utility digitalisation programmes).
• Support utilities in adopting advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), prepaid metering, distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), and virtual power plant (VPP) frameworks.
• Facilitate utility-level data governance frameworks — meter data management systems (MDMS), data lakes, and secure data exchange protocols — in compliance with applicable data protection law including the India DPDP Act 2023.
• Assess AT&C loss reduction opportunities through digital interventions including smart billing, automated fault detection, and AI-powered loss analytics.

Software Engineering Oversight and Technology Delivery

• Engage directly with engineering teams — internal and vendor-side — on software architecture, integration design, API specifications, and release planning for utility digital products.
• Oversee technical delivery of software products, platforms, and integrations: sprint governance, code quality standards, DevOps/CI-CD pipeline management, and technical debt prioritisation.
• Review and provide input on system design documents, technical specifications, and vendor software proposals; ensure proposed solutions are robust, scalable, and fit for utility operating environments.
• Bridge the gap between business requirements from utility stakeholders and engineering execution, ensuring technical teams have clear, well-specified backlogs and utility counterparts understand delivery constraints.
• Evaluate build vs buy vs configure decisions for utility digital components and guide procurement accordingly.

Big Data, AI and Advanced Analytics

• Oversee the design and deployment of big data infrastructure for utilities: data pipelines from smart meters, SCADA systems, weather APIs, and demand-response platforms into centralised analytics environments.
• Champion the use of AI/ML models for demand forecasting, predictive maintenance, fault detection and classification, energy theft detection, and customer segmentation.
• Evaluate and onboard AI product vendors, conducting technical due diligence on model performance, data infrastructure requirements, integration APIs, and explainability standards.
• Establish model governance protocols including data quality standards, bias audits, retraining schedules, and version control to ensure trustworthy AI deployment in critical infrastructure.
• Build internal capability through training programmes, Centre of Excellence frameworks, and knowledge management platforms so that utilities can eventually self-sustain AI-driven operations.

Change Management and Organisational Transformation

• Design and lead structured change management programmes using established frameworks (Prosci ADKAR, Kotter 8-Step, or equivalent) to drive adoption of digital systems within utility workforce structures.
• Conduct stakeholder mapping, change readiness assessments, and impact analyses for each transformation initiative; develop communication and engagement plans for different audience segments.
• Partner with utility HR and L&D functions to design digital skilling curricula for field engineers, billing teams, control room operators, and senior management.
• Manage change fatigue and resistance in large bureaucratic organisations; coach utility leadership on digital culture and agile ways of working.
• Track adoption metrics, benefits realisation, and behavioural change indicators alongside technical deployment milestones.

Ecosystem Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for technology companies, solution providers, system integrators, and platform vendors operating in the utility digital space.
• Coordinate with government bodies (Ministry of Power, CERC/SERCs, BEE, ISA, IRENA, SEforALL, and comparable regional bodies) on policy alignment, regulatory sandbox proposals, and joint programme design.
• Represent GEAPP's Grids of the Future team at industry forums, utility roundtables, and international energy conferences; build and maintain a professional network across the utility digital ecosystem.
• Facilitate consortium arrangements between utilities, technology providers, and financiers for large-scale digital infrastructure deployments.
• Support knowledge-exchange partnerships with peer organisations, development finance institutions (AfDB, ADB, WB, IFC), and bilateral aid agencies engaged in utility digitalisation.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Design and operationalise MEL frameworks for digital transformation programmes, including theory-of-change mapping, logframe development, and results measurement.
• Oversee collection, validation, and analysis of programme data; produce periodic performance reports and impact assessments for internal governance and external accountability.
• Embed continuous improvement cycles including retrospectives, lessons-learned documentation, and adaptive management into programme delivery processes.

REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Bachelor's degree (mandatory) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical field.
• Master's degree (strongly preferred) in Energy Systems, Technology Management, MBA, Public Policy, or equivalent.
• Relevant certifications (desirable): PMP / PgMP, PRINCE2, Prosci Change Management, AWS/GCP/Azure Data, SAFe Agile, TOGAF, or utility-specific credentials such as IEEE Smart Grid certifications.

Professional Experience

• Minimum 7–9 years of progressive experience spanning software engineering, digital transformation, and programme management, with at least 3 years directly in the energy or utilities sector.
• Demonstrated track record of successfully managing end-to-end digital transformation programmes from concept through commissioning — ideally within a distribution utility, energy ministry, multilateral organisation, or consulting firm serving these clients.
• Hands-on software engineering background: experience in designing, building, or overseeing development of enterprise-grade software products, APIs, data platforms, or utility-facing applications, with the ability to engage credibly with engineering teams on architecture, code quality, and delivery.
• Hands-on experience with distribution utility operations: understanding of T&D network operations, OMS/DMS/EMS/GIS systems, meter-to-cash processes, and commercial billing systems.
• Experience working with or within a DISCOM, state power utility, or equivalent regulated energy entity is strongly preferred.
• Prior exposure to climate finance, green energy, or international development programming is advantageous.
• Must be based in New Delhi or willing and able to relocate to New Delhi prior to joining. The role involves regular in-person engagement with government bodies, utility leadership, and partners in the National Capital Region.

Technical & Sector Knowledge

• Digital Transformation

  • End-to-end transformation architecture: technology assessment, solution design, vendor management, and change delivery.
  • Digital maturity modelling and diagnostic frameworks for utilities.
  • Experience deploying at least two of: AMI, SCADA/DMS, ERP (SAP IS-U or Oracle CC&B), GIS, field force automation, or customer self-service portals.

  Software Engineering

  • Solid foundation in software engineering principles: system design, APIs, microservices architecture, DevOps/CI-CD pipelines, and cloud-native development.
  • Proficiency in at least one backend language (Python, Java, Node.js, or equivalent) and familiarity with frontend frameworks sufficient to review and guide development teams.
  • Experience managing or working alongside engineering squads: sprint planning, code review culture, technical debt management, and release governance.
  • Hands-on exposure to building or integrating utility-facing software such as billing systems, MDMS, mobile field force apps, consumer portals, or grid management dashboards.
  • Ability to evaluate vendor software on technical merit by reviewing architecture diagrams, integration specs, and API documentation without relying solely on vendor claims.

  Programme and Project Management

  • Strong command of PM methodologies: Waterfall, Agile/Scrum, and hybrid approaches.
  • Experience managing multi-workstream, multi-stakeholder programmes with budgets exceeding USD 2 million.
  • Proficiency in PM tools such as MS Project, Jira, Smartsheet, or Asana.
  • Risk management, issue escalation, and executive reporting across complex programme portfolios.

  Change Management

  • Structured change management methodology (ADKAR, Kotter, or equivalent) applied to technology adoption in large organisations.
  • Communication planning, training design, and benefits realisation tracking.
  • Experience managing union-heavy or government-owned utility environments preferred.

  Big Data and Data Engineering

  • Understanding of data pipeline architecture: ingestion, storage (data lake/warehouse), transformation, and visualisation layers.
  • Familiarity with AMI/MDMS data flows, time-series energy data, and GIS data integration.
  • Exposure to cloud data platforms (AWS S3/Glue/Redshift, GCP BigQuery, Azure Synapse) and BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
  • Data governance: data dictionaries, data quality management, and master data management in a utility context.

  AI and Machine Learning Products

  • Working knowledge of AI/ML application areas for utilities: demand forecasting, predictive maintenance, energy theft detection, fault classification, and customer analytics.
  • Ability to evaluate AI vendor proposals including model performance metrics, training data requirements, integration feasibility, and explainability.
  • Experience establishing or contributing to an AI governance or model risk framework.
  • Familiarity with LLMs and generative AI use cases relevant to utility back-office and field operations.

  Distribution Utility Domain Knowledge

  • Deep understanding of the distribution utility value chain: generation procurement, transmission interface, distribution network operations, commercial metering, billing, and consumer interface.
  • Familiarity with AT&C loss reduction programmes, RDSS (India), or comparable international grid investment frameworks.
  • Understanding of DER integration challenges: rooftop solar, EV charging load management, net metering, and DERMS deployment.

  Stakeholder and Partner Coordination

  • Ability to manage diverse, cross-sector stakeholder ecosystems: regulators, utilities, government ministries, technology vendors, financiers, and civil society.
  • Experience structuring and managing partnerships, MoUs, data-sharing agreements, and consortium arrangements.
  • Comfort engaging at senior leadership, board, and ministerial levels as well as at technical working-group level.

  Additional Desirable Skills and Attributes

  • Knowledge of regulatory structures: tariff orders, CERC/SERC proceedings (India), or equivalent national regulatory frameworks in other jurisdictions.
  • Cybersecurity awareness for OT/IT convergence environments: IEC 62351, NERC CIP standards, and secure communications for SCADA and AMI networks.
  • Understanding of climate finance instruments relevant to utility infrastructure: concessional loans, green bonds, results-based financing, and blended finance structures.
  • Experience with international development organisations (World Bank, ADB, USAID, GIZ, FCDO) and their programme design and reporting norms.
  • Familiarity with ISO 55000 (Asset Management) in the context of utility digitalisation.
  • Knowledge of open-source platforms relevant to energy: OpenADR, OpenDSS, FIWARE, or OSCP for EV/charging management.
  • Experience with regulatory sandbox design or innovation facilitation in regulated utility environments.
  • Prior experience as a CTO, VP Engineering, or Head of Digital in an energy sector organisation is a strong differentiator.
  • Multilingual capability is an advantage, particularly Hindi or other languages relevant to GEA's programme geographies.

Skills & Competencies

• Systems Thinking: Ability to see technical, commercial, and institutional dimensions of utility transformation as an integrated whole; designs solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms.

  Influence Without Authority: Achieves alignment and action across government bodies, utility management, and vendor partners without direct reporting lines.

  Adaptive Leadership: Navigates ambiguity in complex, politically sensitive environments; adjusts approach based on stakeholder dynamics and evolving programme context.

  Data-Driven Decision Making: Defaults to evidence and quantitative analysis while remaining sensitive to qualitative and contextual factors that shape utility organisations.

  Communication Excellence: Translates technical complexity into clear, compelling narratives for non-technical audiences; equally effective in boardrooms, field visits, and policy forums.

  Delivery Orientation: Strong bias for action and accountability; builds structured tracking mechanisms and holds self and others to agreed milestones and standards.

  Collaboration and Inclusion: Builds high-performing cross-functional teams; actively includes diverse perspectives from utility field staff to senior ministry officials.

Work Environment and Travel

• Primary base: New Delhi, India. Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to New Delhi before joining.
• Regular in-person engagement with government ministries (Ministry of Power, MNRE), DISCOMs, and NCR-based partners is integral to the role.
• Hybrid work arrangement; significant presence at utility sites, government offices, and partner locations required.
• Domestic and international travel expected at 30–40% annually, including visits to utility field sites, state capitals etc.
• Must be comfortable working across time zones to coordinate with multilateral partners, development banks, and government counterparts.
• Professional development allowance for certifications, conferences, and executive education

Head of Quality Engineering to lead and scale our QA function in India (Relocation to Noida required) 

 This is a pivotal leadership role within our Engineering and Technology team, requiring a unique blend of strategic foresight, commercial awareness, and hands-on technical expertise. 

The ideal candidate is not just a manager but a leader and coach—someone who can recruit and build a high-performing team from the ground up while maintaining involvement in projects and automation. You will be the driving force behind our continued AI Transformation in QA in the region and, ensure our technical capabilities are always one step ahead of business demand. 

This role offers relocation to Noida, its important that you are happy to relocate to Noida and our team will support your relocation 

What you’ll be doing: 

Leadership, Team Development & Future-Readiness 

• Build & Scale: Recruit top-tier QA talent to build the India team. Manage high-volume, high-pressure hiring cycles and  a establish QA Automation hub. 

• Future-Proofing the Workforce: Collaborate closely with Sales and Business Development teams to understand the sales pipeline and emerging market trends. Translate these insights into training roadmaps to ensure the team is "project-ready" for next-generation work before it arrives. 

• Talent Development: Follow and contribury to global engineering career progression frameworks. Foster a culture of continuous learning by coordinating training programs, onboarding graduates, and personally coaching team members. 

• Global Collaboration: Act as the primary liaison for the India region within our global community of QA leaders, ensuring alignment with global standards while addressing local operational needs. 

• Employee Wellbeing: Balance the drive for high performance with a deep commitment to team wellbeing, proactively managing signs of burnout and ensuring a healthy, sustainable work-life balance for your staff. 

 
AI Transformation & Technical Excellence 

• AI Leadership: Champion the adoption of AI-assisted testing tools and generative AI within the QA workflow. Lead transformation activities to automate test generation, self-healing scripts, and predictive quality analytics. 

• Automation Strategy: Lead the design and development of robust, scalable test automation frameworks using modern tools, with a specific focus on Playwright. 

• Hands-on Engineering: Review complex test scenarios and contribute to automation code or framework architecture. You will be expected to guide the team on technical implementation in Java, Python, or JavaScript. 

• Shift-Left & CI/CD: Support project teams in integrating quality gates within deployment pipelines and drive the adoption of "Shift-Left" testing principles. 

 
Strategic Quality Management 

• Metrics & KPIs: Define and track quality metrics (DRE, Test Coverage, Cycle Time) to provide transparent reporting to executive stakeholders. 

• SDLC Integration: Collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, and DevOps leads to embed quality as a mindset throughout the development lifecycle. 

• Infrastructure & Data: Oversee test environment management, data management strategies, and ensure the infrastructure supports rigorous performance and security testing. 

• Client Delivery Assurance: Act as the senior escalation point for critical project quality issues. Build relationships with global account leads to ensure Indian based delivery teams are meeting client expectations and strictly adhering to any SLAs 

 
Process & Operations 

• Agile Efficiency: Optimize testing processes to support rapid Agile/Scrum development cycles, reducing time-to-market whilst improving quality. 

• Prioritization: Expertly handle multiple conflicting priorities and context switching between strategic planning, crisis management, and recruitment activities. 

What we want from you: 

• Extensive QA Leadership & Team Scaling: Proven extensive experience in Quality Assurance, leading and managing teams, with a track record of building and scaling QA teams from small to medium sizes (including graduate intake and senior hires). 

• Comprehensive Technical QA Expertise: Strong hands-on proficiency in test automation frameworks (Java, Python, JavaScript), deep understanding of Functional, API, Performance (JMeter, k6), and Security testing fundamentals. 

• Modern QA Tooling & CI/CD Mastery: Experience with Playwright is highly desirable, along with proficiency in modern CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI). 

• E-commerce/Retail Domain Expertise: Understanding of complex buying journeys within E-commerce/Retail domains, with experience using platforms like Shopify, Adobe Commerce, SFCC, or CommerceTools. 

• Strategic Business & Commercial Acumen: Ability to analyse business trends, sales pipelines, and commercial impact to forecast skill requirements, drive proactive team upskilling, and strategically prepare teams for future sales initiatives. 

• AI Transformation & Empowerment: Proven experience with AI transformation activities and a passion for empowering teams to effectively utilize AI tools in daily workflows. 

• Adaptable, Resilient & Results-Oriented: Comfortable with frequent context switching, adept at managing ambiguity in a fast-paced environment, and capable of handling demanding hiring targets and delivery deadlines. 

• Exceptional Communication & Stakeholder Management: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, capable of clearly explaining complex technical quality risks to non-technical stakeholders. 

• High Emotional Intelligence & Relationship Building: Possesses high emotional intelligence, fostering deep trust and strong relationships across cultural boundaries as an approachable, empathetic listener. 
• Vibrant Team & Tech Community Builder: Actively fosters a vibrant internal engineering culture (organizing Hackathons, Guilds, Lunch & Learns) and a strong sense of community within a distributed workforce through team bonding and celebrating successes. 

Desirable Attributes: 

• Cloud Native: Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes). 

• Emerging Tech: Demonstrated knowledge of AI/ML testing approaches and implementation of LLMs in testing. 

• Certifications: ISTQB Advanced Level or equivalent quality certifications. 

• Remote Management: Experience managing distributed or remote teams across different time zones. 

What we can offer you:

Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are.

Our culture thrives on our core values, designed for impact-driven individuals: Heart, Brains and Courage.

We lead with Heart, fostering empathy and trust where genuine connections and human-centric work flourish.
We empower your Brains for innovation, valuing relentless curiosity and collaborative intelligence to solve complex challenges.
And we champion Courage, inspiring you to speak up, embrace experimentation, and advocate for bold solutions that push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

AT VML Enterprise Solutions

Our Enterprise Solutions division houses strategic consultants, creative and technical architects and skilled developers and operators that together help some of the world’s leading organisations to deliver outstanding digital experiences across all major routes to market worldwide: marketplaces, online retailers, D2C, B2B and social platforms. With over 4,200 experts in 55 operational centres across 34 countries, our capabilities span the entire buying journey from customer acquisition, through engagement, to conversion and loyalty, driving multi-channel growth for world-leading brands.

We work with some of the most exciting brands such as The Coca-Cola Company, EY, Bosch, Unilever, Ford, DFS, Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Shell and Tiffany & Co. We’ve built over 500 platforms for brands and retailers and generate in excess of $29bn annually for our clients and work with over 50 strategic partners including Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, HCL, Shopify, Sitecore, BigCommerce, commerce tools and Acquia. Our reputation is based on our people, and we believe we have some of the best in the business.

As our business grows internationally, we’re looking for new people to join us on our journey to inspire and take a key role in shaping some of the best commerce solutions, services, and websites in the world. Working as a team, no problem is insurmountable; we share in our client’s successes and believe that anyone can show creative bravery no matter what their role is in the team.

Head of Quailify Engineering needed to lead and scale our QA function in India. This is a pivotal leadership role within our Engineering and Technology team, requiring a unique blend of strategic foresight, commercial awareness, and hands-on technical expertise. 

The ideal candidate is not just a manager but a leader and coach—someone who can recruit and build a high-performing team from the ground up while maintaining involvement in projects and automation. You will be the driving force behind our continued AI Transformation in QA in the region and, ensure our technical capabilities are always one step ahead of business demand. 

What you’ll be doing: 

Leadership, Team Development & Future-Readiness 

• Build & Scale: Recruit top-tier QA talent to build the India team. Manage high-volume, high-pressure hiring cycles and  a establish QA Automation hub. 

• Future-Proofing the Workforce: Collaborate closely with Sales and Business Development teams to understand the sales pipeline and emerging market trends. Translate these insights into training roadmaps to ensure the team is "project-ready" for next-generation work before it arrives. 

• Talent Development: Follow and contribury to global engineering career progression frameworks. Foster a culture of continuous learning by coordinating training programs, onboarding graduates, and personally coaching team members. 

• Global Collaboration: Act as the primary liaison for the India region within our global community of QA leaders, ensuring alignment with global standards while addressing local operational needs. 

• Employee Wellbeing: Balance the drive for high performance with a deep commitment to team wellbeing, proactively managing signs of burnout and ensuring a healthy, sustainable work-life balance for your staff. 

 
AI Transformation & Technical Excellence 

• AI Leadership: Champion the adoption of AI-assisted testing tools and generative AI within the QA workflow. Lead transformation activities to automate test generation, self-healing scripts, and predictive quality analytics. 

• Automation Strategy: Lead the design and development of robust, scalable test automation frameworks using modern tools, with a specific focus on Playwright. 

• Hands-on Engineering: Review complex test scenarios and contribute to automation code or framework architecture. You will be expected to guide the team on technical implementation in Java, Python, or JavaScript. 

• Shift-Left & CI/CD: Support project teams in integrating quality gates within deployment pipelines and drive the adoption of "Shift-Left" testing principles. 

 
Strategic Quality Management 

• Metrics & KPIs: Define and track quality metrics (DRE, Test Coverage, Cycle Time) to provide transparent reporting to executive stakeholders. 

• SDLC Integration: Collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, and DevOps leads to embed quality as a mindset throughout the development lifecycle. 

• Infrastructure & Data: Oversee test environment management, data management strategies, and ensure the infrastructure supports rigorous performance and security testing. 

• Client Delivery Assurance: Act as the senior escalation point for critical project quality issues. Build relationships with global account leads to ensure Indian based delivery teams are meeting client expectations and strictly adhering to any SLAs 

 
Process & Operations 

• Agile Efficiency: Optimize testing processes to support rapid Agile/Scrum development cycles, reducing time-to-market whilst improving quality. 

• Prioritization: Expertly handle multiple conflicting priorities and context switching between strategic planning, crisis management, and recruitment activities. 

What we want from you: 

• Extensive QA Leadership & Team Scaling: Proven extensive experience in Quality Assurance, leading and managing teams, with a track record of building and scaling QA teams from small to medium sizes (including graduate intake and senior hires). 

• Comprehensive Technical QA Expertise: Strong hands-on proficiency in test automation frameworks (Java, Python, JavaScript), deep understanding of Functional, API, Performance (JMeter, k6), and Security testing fundamentals. 

• Modern QA Tooling & CI/CD Mastery: Experience with Playwright is highly desirable, along with proficiency in modern CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI). 

• E-commerce/Retail Domain Expertise: Understanding of complex buying journeys within E-commerce/Retail domains, with experience using platforms like Shopify, Adobe Commerce, SFCC, or CommerceTools. 

• Strategic Business & Commercial Acumen: Ability to analyse business trends, sales pipelines, and commercial impact to forecast skill requirements, drive proactive team upskilling, and strategically prepare teams for future sales initiatives. 

• AI Transformation & Empowerment: Proven experience with AI transformation activities and a passion for empowering teams to effectively utilize AI tools in daily workflows. 

• Adaptable, Resilient & Results-Oriented: Comfortable with frequent context switching, adept at managing ambiguity in a fast-paced environment, and capable of handling demanding hiring targets and delivery deadlines. 

• Exceptional Communication & Stakeholder Management: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, capable of clearly explaining complex technical quality risks to non-technical stakeholders. 

• High Emotional Intelligence & Relationship Building: Possesses high emotional intelligence, fostering deep trust and strong relationships across cultural boundaries as an approachable, empathetic listener. 
• Vibrant Team & Tech Community Builder: Actively fosters a vibrant internal engineering culture (organizing Hackathons, Guilds, Lunch & Learns) and a strong sense of community within a distributed workforce through team bonding and celebrating successes. 

Desirable Attributes: 

• Cloud Native: Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes). 

• Emerging Tech: Demonstrated knowledge of AI/ML testing approaches and implementation of LLMs in testing. 

• Certifications: ISTQB Advanced Level or equivalent quality certifications. 

• Remote Management: Experience managing distributed or remote teams across different time zones. 

What we can offer you:

Alongside the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting brands around the world, we’ll also prioritise your career development and help you grow your skills. We’ll empower you to make a difference, allow you to be yourself, and respect who you are.

Our culture thrives on our core values, designed for impact-driven individuals: Heart, Brains and Courage.

We lead with Heart, fostering empathy and trust where genuine connections and human-centric work flourish.
We empower your Brains for innovation, valuing relentless curiosity and collaborative intelligence to solve complex challenges.
And we champion Courage, inspiring you to speak up, embrace experimentation, and advocate for bold solutions that push our thinking to be better than yesterday.

AT VML Enterprise Solutions

Our Enterprise Solutions division houses strategic consultants, creative and technical architects and skilled developers and operators that together help some of the world’s leading organisations to deliver outstanding digital experiences across all major routes to market worldwide: marketplaces, online retailers, D2C, B2B and social platforms. With over 4,200 experts in 55 operational centres across 34 countries, our capabilities span the entire buying journey from customer acquisition, through engagement, to conversion and loyalty, driving multi-channel growth for world-leading brands.

We work with some of the most exciting brands such as The Coca-Cola Company, EY, Bosch, Unilever, Ford, DFS, Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Shell and Tiffany & Co. We’ve built over 500 platforms for brands and retailers and generate in excess of $29bn annually for our clients and work with over 50 strategic partners including Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, HCL, Shopify, Sitecore, BigCommerce, commerce tools and Acquia. Our reputation is based on our people, and we believe we have some of the best in the business.

As our business grows internationally, we’re looking for new people to join us on our journey to inspire and take a key role in shaping some of the best commerce solutions, services, and websites in the world. Working as a team, no problem is insurmountable; we share in our client’s successes and believe that anyone can show creative bravery no matter what their role is in the team.

Cialfo is a leading platform connecting students, higher education institutions, and counselors through technology-driven solutions. Launched in 2017 with a mission to make education accessible to 100 million students, Cialfo provides a range of mobile and web solutions to students, K-12 institutions, and higher education institutions. We’re one of the fastest-growing tech startups in the region, consistently charting new heights!

This position is with Cialfo and BridgeU, one of the brands under Manifest Global, which also includes Explore and Kaaiser.

About this role

We're hiring a Content Marketing Lead to own content strategy for Cialfo and BridgeU's K12 platform globally. This isn't a "set strategy and delegate" role, you'll be deeply hands-on. You'll write, brief, edit, ship, and measure. You'll also build the execution infrastructure around you: AI tools, freelancers, and agencies that let you punch well above your weight. Cialfo and BridgeU sells to schools but serves counselors and students. That means your content has to work across three connected audiences - the administrator who signs the contract, the counselor who uses the platform every day, and the student whose outcomes justify the whole thing. Getting all three right is what makes this role genuinely interesting. This role is based in Delhi, India and carries a global remit.

What you'll be doing

• Strategy & editorial leadership
  • Own the global content strategy for Cialfo and BridgeU K12 — across audiences (institutional buyers, counselors, students/parents), markets (India, SEA, China, Middle East, Africa, UK, US), and channels.
  • Build and run a content calendar tied to product launches, GTM campaigns, and the academic calendar across key markets.
  • Define and maintain Cialfo's editorial voice — consistent globally, relevant locally.
• Execution — with AI and external partners
  • Write and edit senior-quality content yourself: thought leadership, case studies, email campaigns, guides.
  • Build an AI-assisted production workflow (Claude, ChatGPT, or equivalent) for first drafts, atomisation, and localisation. Hold the quality bar on everything that comes out of it.
  • Manage a roster of freelance writers and regional contributors across key markets; brief and hold agencies accountable for flagship outputs like annual reports and webinar series.
• B2B2C content programmes
  • For school buyers: thought leadership, research reports, and sales enablement assets that make Cialfo the authoritative voice in K12 counseling globally.
  • For counselors: practical guides, peer case studies, benchmarking tools, and a webinar series that make them better at their jobs — and more reliant on Cialfo.
  • For students and parents: shareable resources that counselors can put in front of students — admissions guides, comparison tools, timelines — that help schools demonstrate value to the people who matter most.
• Localisation
  • Adapt core global content for regional markets using AI translation tools and local contractors.
• Demand generation support
  • Work with the Demand Generation Lead to build pipeline-driving content: gated reports, lead magnets, nurture sequences, ABM assets for priority school accounts.
• Performance
  • Own content KPIs across the B2B2C funnel — traffic, pipeline influence, counselor content adoption, content-attributed retention.
  • Build a reporting dashboard that tells a clear story about what's working and where to invest next.

About you

• Experience
  • 5+ years in content marketing, with a meaningful chunk in B2B or B2B2C Brands.
  • You've owned content strategy across more than one market; not just executed in one.
  • You've managed freelancers and agencies before; you know how to brief well and hold people to a standard.
  • You actively use AI writing tools in your workflow today — not in theory, in practice.
  • You have a strong portfolio: institutional long-form (whitepapers, reports, case studies) and practitioner or consumer-facing content (guides, community content, email).
• What makes you stand out
  • You think in systems, not campaigns — you build content engines that outlast any single brief.
  • You're a strong editor: you can take AI output or a contractor's draft and make it genuinely good.
  • You understand that a school principal, a counselor, and a Year 12 student need completely different content even when you're talking about the same product.
  • You're commercially minded — you care about pipeline, renewal, and revenue, not just page views.
  • You're globally curious - you can follow admissions trends across multiple systems (UK, US, Australia, Asia) and understand how they shape what schools actually care about.
  • You don't wait to be told what to do — you see the gap and fill it.

Cialfo is a leading platform connecting students, higher education institutions, and counselors through technology-driven solutions. Launched in 2017 with a mission to make education accessible to 100 million students, Cialfo provides a range of mobile and web solutions to students, K-12 institutions, and higher education institutions. We’re one of the fastest-growing tech startups in the region, consistently charting new heights!

This position is with Cialfo and BridgeU, one of the brands under Manifest Global, which also includes Explore and Kaaiser. 

Who Are We 

The K12 vertical is at the heart of Manifest’s mission — uniting data, technology, and human connection to help young learners discover and pursue their best-fit pathways to college and career success. In Manifest Global, we’re building an ecosystem of transformative education and career brands that empower learners, educators, and institutions across the world.

About This Role 

The Head of Marketing – K12 will own the marketing vision, growth strategy, and P&L for all K12 brands under Manifest Global — currently Cialfo and BridgeU. 

This role requires a leader who can balance strategic foresight with operational precision — someone who understands that marketing in K12 is driven by trust, relationships, and community influence as much as it is by digital reach. You will design and execute an integrated marketing engine across events, client engagement, word-of-mouth advocacy, and digital performance, ensuring consistent growth across global markets. 

Department: Central Marketing 
Hiring Manager: COO, Manifest Global 
Eventual Reporting To: VP, Central Marketing 

What You Will Be Doing 

What You Will Execute On a Day-to-Day Basis: 

• Oversee marketing for all K12 brands — Cialfo and BridgeU — ensuring consistent growth, alignment, and brand integrity.
• Lead integrated campaigns across events, school engagement programs, partnerships, referral initiatives, and digital acquisition channels.
• Partner closely with Sales, Product, and Customer Success to design client engagement and retention strategies.
• Manage and measure marketing performance across channels, tracking MQL velocity, conversion, and ROI.
• Drive advocacy and community marketing programs that amplify word-of-mouth and client-led storytelling.
• Oversee content calendars, creative output, and digital presence to ensure consistent narrative and positioning.
• Maintain fiscal discipline — managing budgets, monitoring marketing ROI, and tracking contribution to revenue and P&L targets. 

What You Will Lead, Strategize & Develop on a Regular Basis: 

• Define and execute the growth strategy for the K12 business, including revenue and profitability ownership.
• Lead the creation of a multi-channel marketing ecosystem — blending events, advocacy, and digital performance to drive brand preference and pipeline growth.
• Build and execute an annual marketing and growth plan for the K12 vertical, including forecasts, KPIs, and investment priorities.
• Architect the shared K12 narrative across Cialfo and BridgeU — connecting them under Manifest’s purpose while respecting brand independence.
• Partner with Product and RevOps to align marketing data, attribution, and feedback loops that inform decision-making.
• Drive market expansion initiatives — supporting new geographies, partnerships, and institutional collaborations.
• Mentor and scale a global marketing team — empowering brand leads, campaign managers, and event strategists.
• Represent marketing performance and growth insights in quarterly business reviews and leadership forums. 

About You 

• Qualifications:
  • A bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field. 
• Experience:
  • 10–15 years of experience in marketing leadership, with at least 5 years overseeing multiple markets or brands.
  • Proven track record in P&L ownership, revenue-driven marketing, and integrated growth strategy.
  • Deep understanding of the education sector, particularly K12, edtech, or B2B2C ecosystems. 
• Skills: 
  • Expertise in multi-channel marketing, spanning events, client engagement, referrals, and digital channels.
  • Strong command of brand management, demand generation, and community building in global markets.
  • Proficiency in analyzing marketing performance metrics, forecasting growth, and managing budgets.
  • Excellent storytelling skills and experience managing cross-border creative teams and agency partners.
  • Ability to connect marketing strategy with business outcomes and communicate impact across leadership levels.
  • Strong commercial acumen with the ability to translate marketing investments into revenue outcomes. 
• Qualities: 
  • You think like a GM of growth — commercially minded, yet brand-conscious and deeply customer-centric.
  • You’re equally comfortable in a boardroom or at a school event — translating strategy into relationships.
  • You thrive in fast-moving, global environments where storytelling meets analytics.
  • You lead through influence and empathy, bringing diverse teams together under one purpose.
  • You are purpose-driven, mission-aligned, and passionate about transforming the future of education. 
• You’re a Notch Above If You Have: 
  • Experience managing both demand generation and brand marketing P&L at regional or global scale.
  • Proven success using word-of-mouth and referral ecosystems as a growth driver.
  • Experience building community-led growth or ambassador programs in education or SaaS.
  • Deep familiarity with school partnerships, counselor networks, and B2B2C engagement models.
  • Comfort working with multi-brand architecture, acquisitions, and post-integration marketing alignment.