About

Viraj is an experienced engineering leader who has a strong entrepreneurial approach. Currently, he is working as an Engineering Manager at OpenTable, where he is leading and growing a geographically distributed team of 10+ senior engineers spread across 4 countries and in 3 different time zones. He has the experience of both big companies and startups, which makes him understand the importance of moving fast while having an eye for the processes that enable a team to move consistently and predictably. Viraj is playing a dual role of Technical Lead and Engineering Manager at OpenTable. He works with senior engineers to set up a technology roadmap and also provides hands-on technical management, guidance, and support, including system/design review. He works with cross-functional partners, including product, design, and business stakeholders (sales and marketing), to set (and track) team’s quarterly goals. Viraj has built a team of 10+ senior engineers (10+ avg YOE) from scratch at OpenTable. He has hired a mix of senior engineers as well as fresh college graduates and guided them through the on-boarding process. He is grooming senior engineers to take up responsibilities of Tech Lead and to lead small teams/projects. He is building and fostering a culture of ownership/autonomy and engineering excellence at OpenTable. Before joining OpenTable, Viraj worked as a Senior Software Design Engineer at BankBazaar, where he led a small team of 4 engineers to develop integrations with backend systems of leading financial institutions in India. He was also a Teaching Assistant at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Viraj holds a Master of Technology degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computer Science from the University of Mumbai. His relevant experience in the industry is 11.95 years. His tech stack includes Senior Software Engineer and Backend.