Global Head of Software – AOSP​/AAOS

• Location: Central US – Illinois or Oklahoma
• Work arrangement: Hybrid – 3 days per week in the office
• Travel: Approximately 20% international travel
• Level: Executive / Senior Technology Leadership

Our client is one of the largest electronics manufacturers (10k+) in its niche market
, with a global presence and engineering teams across the United States, Europe, and APAC.

The organisation develops sophisticated connected products combining embedded software, hardware, cloud technologies and advanced user interfaces.

We are looking for a Global Head of Software to lead the global software engineering organisation and help shape the next generation of connected products and platforms.

This is a senior technology leadership position with responsibility for software engineering strategy, architecture, execution and organisational leadership across a globally distributed engineering organisation.

The company already has a successful next-generation Android-based platform in production
. The opportunity is to take this platform further — creating a more modular, scalable, and maintainable software ecosystem while continuing to deliver high-quality products to customers.

You will have significant influence over:

• Software and platform architecture
• Embedded Android, AOSP and AAOS
• Engineering standards and ways of working
• Software quality and release predictability
• Connected products and cloud services
• OTA updates and remote diagnostics
• Product analytics and observability
• AI-enabled software development
• Global engineering organisation and capability

This role is suited to a technically credible software leader who can engage deeply in architecture discussions while also leading senior engineering leaders and driving organisational change.

Technology Strategy & Architecture

• Define and execute the global software platform strategy across embedded Android products, applications and connected services.
• Provide technical leadership across Android/AOSP, AAOS, middleware, networking, cloud connectivity, OTA, cybersecurity, diagnostics and data services.
• Establish scalable, modular architecture with stable APIs, clear interfaces and ownership between platform and application teams.
• Lead platform modernisation while balancing architectural improvements with ongoing product delivery.
  
  Partner with Product, Hardware, Systems Engineering, UX, Validation and executive leadership to align technology strategy with business objectives.

Engineering Execution & Quality

• Own software delivery from requirements and architecture through development, testing, release, and field support.
• Improve release predictability through disciplined planning, release management, quality gates, and risk management.
• Scale CI/CD, automated testing, hardware-in-the-loop validation, security testing and release automation.
• Drive measurable improvements in software quality, reliability and engineering efficiency.
• Strengthen product analytics, telemetry, observability and remote diagnostics.
• Improve the organisation's ability to identify, diagnose and resolve issues in products already in the field.

Global Engineering Leadership

• Lead and develop a geographically distributed software organisation across the US, Europe and New Zealand.
• Build a culture of technical excellence, accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Develop engineering leaders and strengthen succession and talent development.
• Establish effective collaboration across product, platform, architecture and quality engineering teams.
• Work effectively with external engineering partners, suppliers and technology providers.

AI-Enabled Engineering

• Develop practical AI capabilities across the software development lifecycle.
• Identify opportunities to use AI for development productivity, testing, defect analysis, documentation and knowledge management.
• Establish appropriate governance around security, quality, intellectual property and responsible AI use.

Stakeholder & Partner Leadership

• Communicate technology strategy, delivery status, risks and investment priorities to senior leadership.
• Build strong relationships across Product, Hardware, Systems, Validation, Cybersecurity, Manufacturing and Service.
• Manage relationships with technology partners, suppliers, ODMs, cloud providers and engineering service organisations.
• Support customer integration requirements and product-specific configurations.

The role covers a broad software and…