Facebook hires three new directors to bolster partnerships team in India

Menlo Park, California based social media giant Facebook has announced three new executive appointments  to its Facebook India Partnership team. The move is expected to drive business in gaming, commerce and technology, media, entertainment, sports, telecom and device partnerships in the country. 

The company onboarded Paras Sharma as director of media partnerships. In his last job, Sharma was with media conglomerate Viacom as senior vice president and general manager of South East Asia. He will be leading partnerships across news, entertainment, sports and music verticals for both Facebook and Instagram.

Former director of Samsung India Electronics, Francis Jose will join as director of mobile and connectivity partnerships for India. Jose will be responsible for Facebook’s engagement with telecom, internet service providers (ISP) and mobile devices industries. 

The company has also appointed former Amazon executive Manish Hotchandani as director of business development. Hotchandani, who previously led Alexa Voice Services business will focus on growing gaming, commerce and augmented reality and virtual reality opportunities at Facebook India.

All three appointees will report to Manish Chopra, director and head of partnerships at Facebook India, who joined the company in January 2019.

“We are proud to expand our team with addition of Francis, Manohar and Paras - who are not only leading industry talents but also share Facebook’s passion to create unique experiences that drive business value for our partners and bring the world closer together,” Manish Chopra, said in a statement by the company.

Facebook has strengthened its partnerships over the last year including entering into a license agreement with Indian music labels T-Series and Yash Raj Films.