Chinese Smartphone maker Xiaomi has roped in former Google executive, Jai Mani to head its products team in India, where the Chinese company is competing with global and domestic firms for a slice of the multi-billion smartphone market.

Xiaomi Global Vice President Hugo Barra said Mani has just joined the Mi India team as lead product manager.

“Jai has relocated all the way from SF to Bangalore and hit the ground running on his first day co-hosting a Mi fan meet-up with his partner in crime +Rohit Ghalsasi,” he added.

Barra, who himself is a former Google employee, said Android fans would remember Jai from his “memorable on-stage demo performances at Google I/O and Nexus launches”.

According to Mani’s LinkedIn profile, he had been a Google Play Strategy and Analytics associate before he co-founded a startup.

Xiaomi, which is a relatively new player in the multi-billion smartphone market in the country, sells its products in India exclusively through e-commerce website Flipkart.com.

Apart from global giants like Samsung and Nokia, Xiaomi also competes with domestic players like Micromax and Karbonn as well as other Chinese companies like Oppo and Gionee.

So far, it has launched two devices in the Indian market — Mi 3 and Redmi 1S.