Director, Software Engineering

Iridex Corporation is a global medical technology company dedicated to advancing the treatment of glaucoma and retinal diseases through innovative laser-based solutions. Since 1989, our products have been used by ophthalmologists around the world to help preserve and improve vision.

We are looking for an experienced hands-on Software Engineering leader to head our R&D team and manage our software activities.

At Iridex, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to meaningful work that supports physicians and patients worldwide while being part of a company that values collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

The Director, Software Engineering is Iridex’s senior, hands-on software engineering leader, responsible for the technical direction, architecture, development, and lifecycle management of software and firmware supporting ophthalmic medical devices.

This is a hands-on R&D leadership role, not solely a people-management position. The successful candidate must be capable of personally engaging in software architecture, development, code review, debugging, and system-level troubleshooting while leading the broader R&D Engineering team.

The Director serves as Iridex’s principal software engineering authority while leading, managing, and developing the R&D Engineering team. The role requires demonstrated experience developing software and embedded systems for regulated medical devices and working across the product lifecycle in partnership with Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, and Technical Service.

• Serve as the senior technical authority for software, firmware, and embedded systems.
• Define software architecture, engineering standards, development practices, and technical direction.
• Remain hands-on in software design, development, code review, debugging, integration, troubleshooting, and resolution of complex system-level issues.
• Lead new product development, sustaining engineering, and legacy-system activities.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks and improve software quality, reliability, maintainability, and development efficiency.
• Ensure software development meets applicable medical-device quality, regulatory, cybersecurity, and product requirements.

• Lead, manage, and develop the R&D Engineering team, including senior and Principal-level engineers.
• Set priorities, allocate resources, and balance technical and business requirements.
• Establish clear performance expectations and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and technical excellence.
• Develop engineering capabilities, processes, and talent to support current and future product needs.

• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, Technical Service, Product Management, and other functions to deliver product objectives and resolve technical issues.
• Provide technical input on product strategy, priorities, risks, and resource requirements.
• Support product development, verification and validation, regulatory submissions, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and field-support activities.
• Communicate complex technical issues, risks, and recommendations effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Establish and maintain effective software development, testing, code review, configuration management, documentation, and change-control practices.
• Drive improvements in development tools, processes, infrastructure, and engineering efficiency.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive software…