A bureaucrat and three senior executives in race for top job at Facebook India

Facebook is in the final stage of finalizing a new head for the India operations and the vice-president for global marketing solutions, David Fischer is interviewing candidates from the ones shortlisted. It however, does not include any job responsibilities for Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Facebook has more than 217 million monthly active users and the social networking giant is on the lookout for a managing director at the vice-president level. This is the first for India operations which shows the growing importance of the market for Facebook. The previous MDs were not accorded the title of VP. Many contenders from India are attracted for this position due to the revised annual compensation at INR 13.5 crore and stock options offered by Facebook.     

Some candidates who made it to the shortlist include Tata Sky MD Harit Nagpal, Star India MD Sanjay Gupta, Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan and Srivatsa Krishna, the former Karnataka IT secretary. There are many others who had applied for the post. Srivatsa Krishna is a Harvard alumnus and is the only IAS officer to be a part of the list. Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm has been roped in by Facebook for the process.

In the job description, Facebook has stated that the new leader will be responsible for partnerships, sales and marketing and corporate and government engagement. The job also involves defining financial, strategic and operational targets that align with the long term strategic plans of the company. The candidate will report to Fischer. While Facebook is battling privacy concerns in the EU, it expects India to give enough room for growth. It recorded the first ever decline in the daily active users in Canada and US in December 2017 which indicates the greater momentum coming from two major markets.