Hiring a VP of Engineering for a pre-Series A Used Vehicle Marketplace

Zifcare hired a VP - Engineering to lead the technology function at a pre-Series A startup and closed the role at INR 65 LPA + ESOPs. All 5 candidates handpicked by Zifcare were interviewed - The hired candidate had worked at some of the top internet-first firms of India and Indonesia, with exposure to automotive tech, e-commerce and fintech/payments.

Summary - VP (Engineering) Role

⏰ Time to hire	2 months (approx.)
💰 Salary offered to hired candidate	INR 65 LPA + ESOPs
👥 Tech team size	12 (at time of hiring)
👨 Candidate profiles shared by Zifcare	5
💻 Candidates interviewed by Client	5

Client Overview

Company: Series-A Automotive Tech Startup: A fast-growing startup building a digital marketplace for used vehicles. The company is headquartered in Gurgaon.

Challenge: Needed a VP of Engineering to lead technology strategy, scale the engineering team, and architect a high-performance platform.

Need for a VP - Engineering

Issues being faced by client due to lack of a senior engineering leader:

• Technical Debt: Their MVP architecture couldn't handle the transaction volume.

• Fundraising Hurdles: Investors were unwilling to invest without a senior engineering leader on board (all 3 co-founders had industry knowledge, but had no software dev experience).

• Scaling Bottlenecks: Engineering team of 15 was overwhelmed and burning out.

• Leadership Gap: No senior engineering leader with marketplace/AI experience in the team.

• Competitive Pressure: Well-funded competitors were gaining market share.

• National Expansion: Plans to expand to pan-India locations within 12 months.

💡Hiring Objectives

The ideal candidate required:

➤ Proven ability to design scalable system architectures: handle 1-5M+ users

➤ Experience leading engineering teams (30+ engineers)

➤ Hands-on expertise in modern tech stacks (preferably Python, Node.js, Golang, cloud services)

➤ Strong credibility gained by working at reputable tech organizations

Challenges in finding and hiring the right candidate

1. Limited talent: Few VPs in India had relevant marketplace experience and automotive industry knowledge.

2. Competition: Global tech giants and unicorns were aggressively hiring senior tech talent in India.

3. Candidate skepticism: Top tech talent was hesitant about India-based startup opportunities.

4. Compensation gaps: Salary + equity packages needed to compete with offers from multinationals and larger startups.

5. Cultural concerns: Candidates were apprehensive about work culture, team quality and growth prospects.

Hiring Process

1. Initial Shortlisting (5 Candidates)

Criteria for shortlisting candidates:

The ideal candidate would have:

• Proven ability to design scalable system architectures: handle 1-5 M+ users

• Experience leading large engineering teams, ability to scale team from 15 to 100+ engineers

• Hands-on expertise in current tech stack being used (preferably Python, Node.js, Golang, cloud services) to enable hands-on approach to resolving tech issues when needed

• Ability to implement AI/ML for fraud detection, pricing, and recommendations

Shortlisted Candidates (anonymized):

Profile	Key Experience	Strengths
Candidate A	Ex-CTO/co-founder at an acquired mobility startup	Scaled team to 60+ engineers, strong architect, hands-on coder
Candidate B	Leadership roles at ed-tech & auto-tech unicorns	Managed team of 85+ engineers at an ed-tech unicorn, strong project management skills
Candidate C	Sr. Engineering Manager at a healthcare tech company	Full-stack expertise incl. Python + Node.JS, leading team of 20
Candidate D	Engineering Director at a SaaS company	Deep database & performance architecture knowledge, leading team of 40
Candidate E (hired)	Director position at a fintech and automotive company	Built inspection systems for used vehicles in a previous role, strong in cloud & backend dev

2. Multi-Stage Evaluation

• Round 1: Cultural fit & leadership vision discussions with 2 of 3 founders along with a discussion on past experience and achievements

• Round 2: Technical deep-dives with external expert (system design, scalability) - the expert was the CTO of another tech startup

• Round 3: Case study and technical discussion on marketplace architecture to assess ability to lead the tech function

• Round 4: Cultural fit discussion with all 3 co-founders including CEO, discussion on plans to scale up the tech function at the firm

• Joining: Onboarding at the firm and introduction to the team and tech setup

Why Candidate E Was Selected

➤ Industry-Relevant Experience: Previously built inspection systems for used vehicles. This showcased a basic understanding of the market the firm operates in.

➤ Proven Leadership: Managed 30+ engineers in a high-growth environment, ensuring ability to handle the current team and future growth plans.

➤ Technical Depth: Strong in backend development (Golang, Node.js) and cloud infrastructure - familiarity with current tech stack being used in the firm.

➤ Strategic Thinker: Presented a clear roadmap for scaling the platform - giving the founders the confidence the candidate could lead the tech function of the firm.

3. Convincing the candidate and handling objections

a. Relationship and Narrative-First Approach: Invested time in understanding personal motivations + Maintained regular communication throughout the process

b. Comprehensive Objection Handling: Anticipated and proactively addressed every possible concern and organized multiple meetings with founders to build trust

c. Strategic Package Structuring: Compensated for base salary differences through equity and benefits, created win-win structure to motivate short-term acceptance and long-term retention

Final Outcome

1. Successful Hire: The selected candidate joined as VP of Engineering, bringing structured leadership to the technology team, with a clear plan to scale up the tech function.

2. Key Contributions:

   • Redesigned the marketplace backend for scalability

   • Building and mentored a high-performing engineering team

   • Optimized deployment processes for faster iteration

   • Helped give investors the confidence to do the Series A round

💡 Why This Process Worked

➤ Balanced technical and leadership evaluation

➤ Extremely well curated profiles to save founders’ and team’s time

➤ Focus on industry-specific experience for faster impact