From GNDU-Jalandhar to Silicon Valley, alumnus global leadership journey

From being a B Tech student in the regional campus of Guru Nanak Dev University in Jalandhar to becoming a corporate diplomat and global strategist in San Francisco Bay Area, Jaivijay Singh Dhalla has had a spiralling professional journey.

He trained as a graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering in Jalandhar and managed to take up business leadership roles over the last almost 12 years in the US. Jaivijay is currently serving in a director-level role in Global Field Services Operations and Group Governance, Risk and Compliance at Iron Systems in Pleasanton, California. He works in global operations and governance, risk and compliance, focussing on accountability, risk controls and execution discipline.

Jaivijay Singh credits his engineering foundation in his college campus for developing an acumen for problem solving-breaking problems into parts, measuring outcomes and building processes that remain stable under pressure. In his early years in Punjab, he had already developed leadership instincts through student initiatives and competitive sport. "I was a national-level handball player and competed at the state level in fencing and hammer throw. The sportsmanship reinforced discipline, teamwork, and resilience in me right in my school and college days", he said as he is on a trip to his home.

As his career expanded into operations and management, Jaivijay pursued an MBA at Hult International Business School, where working with multicultural teams strengthened his global perspective and his ability to communicate across different working styles. He later completed Negotiation Mastery Certification from Harvard Business School (HBX), sharpening his skills that become essential in high-stakes environments.

His work sits at an intersection of operational performance and risk control, with an emphasis on building governance mechanisms that help teams execute consistently across regions. In large delivery environments, recurring incidents, change failures, vendor complexity and unclear accountability can quickly escalate into leadership-level issues. His approach is to reduce that chaos through structured governance, clear decision rights, and disciplined operating rhythms that connect day-to-day execution with strategic priorities.

Several practical frameworks have shaped my work. "One is a strategic governance operating model that clarifies who decides what, how risks are surfaced and how corrective actions are formulated and tracked to closure, with leadership reporting tied to measurable outcomes. Another is a stakeholder analysis and alignment framework that maps decision authority and interests, then brings cross-functional teams and partners into a consistent operating rhythm through clear ownership, regular reviews, and timely execution. A third focusses on change quality over time, using timed checkpoints to confirm that changes remain effective, detect drift early, and prevent small issues from becoming recurring disruptions", he said.

Jaivijay describes governance as a management system that enables consistent execution across regions and partners, even as variables shift. He also emphasises corporate diplomacy as a practical requirement of modern operations leadership, aligning cross-functional teams, vendor stakeholders, and executives during pressure moments, then converting decisions into lasting process improvements.

For the aspirants, he has a message, "This path carries a simple lesson. Progress often comes from accepting difficult assignments, learning quickly and treating challenges as opportunities to refine judgment and capability. For me, the GNDU to Silicon Valley arc is not just a geographic transition. It reflects an enduring focus on building systems that help organisations perform reliably, even when complexity is unavoidable."