Head of Device Engineering

ZEISS in India is headquartered in Bengaluru and present in the fields of Industrial Quality Solutions, Research Microscopy Solutions, Medical Technology, Vision Care and Sports & Cine Optics.

ZEISS India has 3 production facilities, R&D center, Global IT services and about 40 Sales & Service offices in almost all Tier I and Tier II cities in India. With 2200+ employees and continued investments over 25 years in India, ZEISS success story in India is continuing at a rapid pace.

Further information at ZEISS India.

Primary duties and responsibilities :

• Software Development Refraction Devices

Provide strategic and technical leadership for the architecture, development, and full lifecycle management of embedded and application software for refraction devices. This includes ensuring the highest standards of clinical accuracy, system reliability, scalability, and regulatory compliance across global markets. The role is accountable for defining software platforms and engineering practices that enable longterm maintainability, rapid innovation, and seamless integration with ZEISS optical technologies, while supporting product evolution and lifecycle sustainability.

• Software Development Centration & Digital Platforms

Lead the endtoend software development for centration devices and their associated digital ecosystems, including cloudbased platforms, frame software, and advanced computer vision systems. This responsibility spans algorithm development, realtime image and data processing, devicetocloud connectivity, and workflow enablement across clinical and commercial environments. The role ensures that software solutions are robust, secure, scalable, and tightly integrated to deliver intuitive user experiences and datadriven value across ZEISS Vision Care solutions.

• Consumer Wearables & Smart Devices

Drive the development of consumer wearables and intelligent smart devices, including frame electronics and connected ecosystems. This includes ownership of firmware architecture, edge and mobile integration, power and performance optimization, and endusercentric design principles. The role is responsible for translating emerging technologies into reliable, scalable consumer products, balancing innovation with usability, manufacturability, and longterm product sustainability in a fastevolving market landscape.

• Hardware Development & Engineering
• Own hardware development across the device portfolio, encompassing value engineering, new hardware design, supplier strategy, and longterm technology scalability. This responsibility includes establishing strong supplier partnerships, ensuring cost efficiency, manufacturability, quality, serviceability, and regulatory readiness of all hardware platforms, and driving robust device qualification through structured functional and performance testing, as well as reliability, endurance, and lifecycle testing (stress, environmental, aging) to ensure predictable longterm field performance. The role provides strategic oversight to align hardware innovation with ZEISS quality standards, supplier quality controls, global sourcing strategies, and lifecycle management objectives.

• Engineering Leadership & Delivery
• Provide leadership to large, multidisciplinary engineering teams spanning software, electronics, mechanical, and systems engineering disciplines. Drive endtoend execution from early concept development through verification, validation, industrialization, and global rollout. Establish governance for device testing and quality assurance (test strategy, coverage, traceability, and release criteria), ensuring testing addresses functional requirements, performance targets, and reliability/endurance expectations across the device lifecycle. The role establishes engineering excellence through standardized processes, governance, and performance metrics, ensuring predictable delivery, high product quality, and alignment with business and regulatory requirements.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Global Collaboration

Act as a key partner to global ZEISS stakeholders across R&D, product management, manufacturing, and external suppliers. Collaborate to align device roadmaps, technology platforms, architectural standards, and innovation priorities across regions. This responsibility ensures strong crossfunctional alignment, effective decisionmaking, and the successful translation of strategic vision into executable engineering outcomes that support ZEISSs global product strategy.

Education requirements / Experience / Job Specifications :

The successful candidate will bring extensive leadership experience in complex device and product engineering environments, with a proven ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels across global organizations.

The role requires 15+ years of progressive experience in device development, embedded software, electronics, or product engineering, including senior leadership responsibility for large, multidisciplinary engineering organizations. The incumbent should have demonstrated success in leading endtoend product development lifecycles, from earlystage concept definition and system architecture through verification, validation, industrialization, regulatory approval, and longterm lifecycle management.

A strong technical background is essential, with deep, handson understanding of embedded software, electronics, computer vision, and devicetocloud integration architectures. Experience in medical devices, vision care systems, consumer electronics, or highreliability industrial systems is highly valued, particularly in environments where clinical accuracy, regulatory compliance, system reliability, and scalability are critical success factors.

The candidate must have a proven track record of leading large, crossfunctional engineering teams across software, hardware, electronics, mechanical, and systems engineering disciplines, operating effectively within global, matrixed organizational structures. Experience collaborating across R&D, product management, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and external supplier ecosystems is essential.

Strong leadership capabilities are required, including the ability to set technical vision, establish engineering governance and best practices, develop highperforming leadership teams, and drive a culture of engineering excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement. The role demands comfort with complex stakeholder environments, effective decisionmaking under ambiguity, and the ability to balance innovation, speed, quality, cost, and longterm sustainability.

The incumbent should hold a Bachelors or Masters degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Electronics, or a related technical discipline. An advanced degree is advantageous but not mandatory if accompanied by equivalent depth of experience and demonstrated impact at scale.