Head - Performance Engineering & Performance Testing

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Head - Performance Engineering & Performance Testing to lead our enterprise-wide performance testing and engineering practice. The ideal candidate will be responsible for defining performance testing strategies, driving performance engineering initiatives, building high-performing teams, and ensuring scalability, reliability, and optimal performance of business-critical applications across complex technology landscapes.

The candidate should possess strong expertise in JMeter, LoadRunner, performance engineering methodologies, capacity planning, and non-functional testing across web, mobile, cloud, and distributed applications.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy

• Define and drive the organization's Performance Engineering and Performance Testing vision, strategy, and roadmap.
• Establish performance engineering best practices, standards, frameworks, and governance models.
• Lead and mentor a team of Performance Engineers, Architects, and Testing Specialists.
• Collaborate with Business, Development, QA, DevOps, Infrastructure, and Architecture teams to deliver scalable solutions.
• Provide thought leadership in performance engineering and continuous improvement initiatives.

Performance Engineering & Testing

• Design and oversee end-to-end performance engineering programs across multiple projects.

• Develop performance testing strategies including:

• Load Testing

• Stress Testing

• Endurance/Soak Testing

• Spike Testing

• Scalability Testing

• Capacity Testing

• Review application architecture and identify performance bottlenecks.

• Establish performance benchmarks, SLAs, and KPIs.

• Drive proactive performance optimization throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

Tool & Technology Management

• Lead implementation and optimization of performance testing tools, particularly:

• Apache JMeter

• Micro Focus LoadRunner

• Performance Center / Enterprise

• Dynatrace

• AppDynamics

• Grafana

• Splunk

• New Relic

• Develop reusable performance testing assets, frameworks, scripts, and accelerators.

• Integrate performance testing within CI/CD and DevOps pipelines.

Stakeholder Management

• Engage with senior leadership and business stakeholders on performance risks and mitigation plans.
• Present performance test results, recommendations, and executive dashboards.
• Drive root-cause analysis and performance tuning initiatives with cross-functional teams.

Delivery Excellence

• Ensure successful delivery of performance testing engagements across multiple programs.
• Define metrics and monitor quality, productivity, and operational efficiency.
• Establish governance mechanisms and periodic reviews for performance testing projects.

Required Skills & Experience

Technical Expertise

• 15-20 years of overall IT experience with significant experience in Performance Engineering and Performance Testing.

• Deep expertise in:

• Apache JMeter

• LoadRunner

• Performance Center

• Application Performance Monitoring (APM) tools

• Strong understanding of:

• Web Applications

• APIs & Microservices

• Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

• Distributed Systems

• Containerized Environments (Docker/Kubernetes)

• Experience in performance analysis of:

• Java/J2EE applications

• .NET applications

• Databases (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL)

• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.

Leadership Experience

• Proven experience leading large performance testing and engineering teams.
• Experience managing multiple enterprise-scale programs simultaneously.
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
• Experience in defining and implementing enterprise performance testing CoEs (Center of Excellence) will be preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field.
• Performance testing certifications in LoadRunner, JMeter, or related technologies preferred.
• Experience in BFSI, Insurance, Telecom, Retail, E-commerce, or Digital Transformation programs will be an added advantage.

Key Competencies

• Strategic Thinking
• Leadership & Team Building
• Performance Engineering Expertise
• Problem Solving & Analytical Skills
• Stakeholder Management
• Program Governance
• Communication & Presentation Skills
• Continuous Improvement Mindset