Mission:
To define and evolve the software architecture for SaMD systems across the organization. The Principal Software Architect acts as a "Force Multiplier" for the CTO and Tech Leads, ensuring technical excellence, scalability, and regulatory compliance. This is a high-level individual contributor role with significant strategic responsibility and a clear pathway to organizational leadership reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer.
What You'll Do:
1. Software Architecture & Strategy (40%)
- System Definition: Defines the overall software architecture for SaMD systems, ensuring safety, reliability, and scalability.
- Cross-Project Oversight: Roams across multiple project teams to review architectural decisions, resolve complex technical blockers, and ensure alignment with company standards.
- Technology Roadmap: Drives technology choices (languages, frameworks, tools) considering performance, maintainability, and cost. Continuously researches emerging technologies (e.g., AI, new BLE standards) to assess applicability.
- Technical Risk: Identifies systemic technical risks across the organization and implements mitigation strategies.
- Drive client success by proactively identifying risks in the client's ecosystem and proposing architectural solutions that mitigate them. Ensure that the solution we deliver is the right fit for the client—advocating for pragmatism and value over complexity.
2. DevOps & Infrastructure (20%)
- Pipeline Ownership: Owns the company's DevOps strategy. Designs and maintains automated CI/CD pipelines (Fastlane, GitHub Actions) for Mobile, Web, and Cloud.
- Infrastructure as Code: Enforces Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices to ensure environment consistency.
- Developer Experience: Develops tools and scripts that improve the efficiency and velocity of the engineering team.
3. SaMD Specifics & Quality (20%)
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensures architecture supports SaMD regulatory requirements (FDA/MDR). Defines architectural patterns that support validation and verification.
- Hardware Integration: Establish patterns for robust BLE/Hardware integration and simulation.
- Pragmatic Rigor: Promotes a culture of "Scientific Thinking," where engineering decisions are based on measurable data and hypotheses are rigorously tested.
4. Technical Leadership & Mentorship (20%)
- Standard Setting: Acts as a teacher, setting standards for performance and code quality across the organization.
- Hands-on Contribution: Actively contribute code as part of a Scrum team, participating in sprints to lead by example, validate architectural patterns, and ensure designs are grounded in implementation reality.
- Mentorship: Mentors Tech Leads and Senior Engineers, helping them grow their technical capabilities and systems thinking skills.
- Pre-Sales Support: Collaborates with the CTO on technical proposals and feasibility assessments for prospective clients.
Means of Accountability
- System Stability: Reduction in systemic bugs and architectural debt across projects.
- Velocity: Improvement in team delivery speed due to better tooling and standards.
- Stakeholder Feedback: Feedback from Tech Leads regarding the value of guidance provided.
- Infrastructure Reliability: Uptime and efficiency of CI/CD pipelines.
Requirements (candidate must have this experience):
- Experience: Minimum of 8+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- Leadership: Experience acting as a Tech Lead or Architect on complex, delivered projects.
- Technical Stack: Master-level proficiency in TypeScript with deep experience in React Native, React, and NestJS.
- DevOps: Proven experience designing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure.
- Architecture: Demonstrated ability to design distributed systems and mobile-to-hardware integrations.
Preferences (you’d be a strong fit if…)
- Experience in a consultancy environment.
- Experience with ISO 13485, IEC 62304, or regulated software environments.
- Deep expertise in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocols.
Salary Range and Benefits:
- Salary range: $160,000 - $200,000 per year
- Location: Remote, within the United States
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance options
- 401k & 401k matching options
- Company-provided technology
- Generous PTO
- Strong work-life balance
- Flexible work schedule within regular business hours
Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time. We are unable to hire outside of the U.S. for this role.
Who is Orthogonal:
Orthogonal is a software development and consulting firm that creates medical device software, such as smartphone apps that talk to medical device hardware operating directly on the human body. We take on some of the most challenging healthcare problems facing our loved ones, the healthcare system and society today.
Orthogonal develops Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), digital therapeutics (DTx) and other types of connected medical devices. Our industry-leading experience enables the rapid development, launch and continuous improvement of connected and compliant products – and we offer this innovative approach to our clients so that they can build their own SaMD product development workflows.
Over the last decade, Orthogonal has worked with partners – ranging from startups to Fortune 500 firms – to develop software for their connected devices and bring them to market in a highly regulated space. By accelerating the product innovation pipeline at medical device companies, diagnostic firms and pharmaceutical manufacturers, we enable our partners to modernize patient care and gain a competitive advantage.
Our work is full-stack and multi-faceted, often involving:
- Connected Medical Devices: Engineering solutions for hardware like nerve stimulators and implanted sensors.
- Mobile & Web Applications: Creating intuitive apps for patients and data-rich portals for clinicians.
- Cloud Platforms: Building scalable systems for remote patient monitoring and AI-driven insights.
Top Skills
What We Do
Orthogonal develops Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), digital therapeutics (DTx) and other types of connected medical devices. Our industry-leading experience enables the rapid development, launch and continuous improvement of connected and compliant products – and we offer this innovative approach to our clients so that they can build their own SaMD product development workflows.
Why Work With Us
A job at Orthogonal is a never-ending master class in MedTech and digital health, product development and software engineering. Our teams of expert quality systems engineers and cloud and mobile architects collaborate to solve difficult problems and launch meaningful products. We take our work very seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
