VP - Cloud & Data Practice Leader

Spot Your Leaders & Consulting · India

Role: Cloud & Data Practice Leader

Location: Hyderabad, India

About the Role

We are looking for a seasoned Cloud & Data Practice Leader to build, scale, and lead its Cloud and Data services portfolio. This role will be responsible for practice strategy, capability building, solutioning, presales leadership, and delivery governance , while working closely with sales, delivery, alliances, and executive leadership to drive growth and customer success.

The ideal candidate brings a strong mix of cloud-native thinking, data & AI expertise, client-facing leadership, and P&L mindset , with proven experience in scaling practices within a digital engineering or IT services organization.

Key Responsibilities

Practice & Capability Leadership

• Define and execute the Cloud & Data practice vision, strategy, and roadmap aligned with the organizations’ overall business goals.
• Build and scale capabilities across Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) and Data platforms (Data Engineering, Analytics, AI/ML) .
• Develop reusable offerings, accelerators, frameworks, and solution blueprints .
• Drive talent strategy including hiring, upskilling, certifications, and succession planning.
• Own practice-level financials, utilization, margins, and growth KPIs .

Presales & Solutioning

• Act as a solution leader in presales engagements including RFP/RFI responses, deal qualification, effort estimation, and pricing strategy .
• Lead customer discovery workshops to understand business objectives and translate them into scalable cloud and data solutions.
• Partner with sales teams to support large deals, strategic accounts, and new logo pursuits .
• Collaborate with hyperscaler and data platform partners to create joint value propositions .

Delivery & Governance

• Provide delivery oversight and architectural governance for cloud and data programs.
• Ensure adherence to best practices, security, compliance, and quality standards .
• Support delivery teams in addressing escalations, risks, and transformation challenges.
• Establish metrics and dashboards to track delivery performance and client outcomes .

Alliances & Ecosystem

• Strengthen and manage partnerships with hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and data technology providers.
• Work with alliance teams on joint GTM strategies, co-selling, and partner-led opportunities .
• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive landscape .

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Engage with CXO-level stakeholders as a trusted advisor.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, engineering, product, and operations teams.
• Mentor senior architects and delivery leaders within the practice.

Key Skills & Expertise

Cloud Technologies

• Public cloud platforms: AWS, Azure, GCP
• Cloud-native architectures, microservices, containers, Kubernetes
• Cloud security, governance, and cost optimization

Data & AI

• Data engineering, data lakes, data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Databricks, etc.)
• Analytics, BI, and reporting platforms
• AI/ML, GenAI, and advanced analytics use cases (preferred)

Leadership & Business Skills

• Practice building and scaling experience
• Strong presales and client-facing capabilities
• Financial acumen and P&L understanding
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills

Experience & Qualifications

• 20+ years of overall experience in IT / digital services
• 5+ years in a leadership role managing Cloud and/or Data practices
• Proven experience in practice setup, scaling, and transformation initiatives
• Background in digital engineering, product engineering, or IT services organizations
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field (master’s preferred)
• Cloud and data certifications are a strong plus

What’s in It for You

• Opportunity to build and shape a high-impact Cloud & Data practice
• Work with cutting-edge technologies and marquee clients
• Strong leadership visibility and strategic ownership
• Collaborative, innovation-driven culture