Head of Software Engineering in San Diego

Job Description

Head of Software (San Diego, CA — On-site)

An innovative medical device company at a growth inflection point — with a product already in clinical studies — is seeking a Head of Software to lead and scale their software organization. This is a builder's leadership role reporting to the VP of R&D, combining hands-on technical depth with people leadership as the team grows from lean and high-performing into full commercial scale.

What you'll own:

• Build and scale the software team — hiring, mentoring, and establishing a culture where engineers do their best work
• Drive engineering effectiveness — coding standards, workflows, and AI-enabled acceleration
• Translate executive vision into actionable technical strategy and roadmaps
• Stay technically hands-on — prototype, review, and build alongside the team
• Represent software cross-functionally with hardware, data science, regulatory, and executive stakeholders
• Own team budget, resource allocation, and delivery timelines

What we're looking for:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• 10–15+ years in software development, including 5+ years managing technical teams
• Experience shipping mobile apps and cloud backends end-to-end, ideally for a connected-device fleet
• Regulated industry experience — medical device or other safety-critical software strongly
• Fluency in modern DevOps, CI/CD, and automation testing
• Comfort applying AI tools safely and effectively within a regulated environment

Must be local to or willing to relocate immediately to San Diego, CA — this is an on-site role.