The social media giant Facebook is up for finalizing its new head for the operations in India, and it is basically looking for Top media and FMCG executives.
The interviews regarding the same are being taken up by the company’s vice-president for global marketing solutions David Fischer who is in the country for this purpose. A decision would be taken by him after reviewing and close examination.
The sources convey that the shortlisted candidates included Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan, Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal, Star India MD Sanjay Gupta, and former Karnataka IT secretary Srivatsa Krishna, among others. The leading candidates among these are Hotstar and Tata Sky executives.
The job description, for that matter, states that the new India leader will be responsible for Facebook’s India operations, representing Facebook’s product strategy in the country and drive alignment with partners and stakeholders, and lead partnership efforts in the market. In simple words, the India head will oversee the partnerships, sales & marketing, corporate and government engagement.
Apart from this, it may also involve defining financial, strategic and operating targets that align with a long-term strategic plan. Setting new standards across the latest media companies, the remuneration, in this case, could reach up to $2 million (Rs 13.5 crore).
An industry observer said, “This is an ambitious move from Facebook as Indian team was never given a free hand, despite India being the largest market in terms of users (estimated at 270 million).”
The top headhunting firm named Spencer Stuart is assisting Facebook in hiring the MD as well as the other senior roles. However, Rohit Kale, who leads Spencer Stuart India has refused to comment on this matter as a matter of policy. The Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp is also currently looking for an India head. It is the brand’s first full-time hire in India for a role that has been vacant since long. Facebook is now anticipated to expand more on Indian level.