Change people’s lives and love what you do! Cochlear develops world-leading medical devices that help people hear. As a top 100 medical device company and market-leader in implantable hearing devices, more people choose a Cochlear-branded cochlear implant system than any other. Our employees tell us that the number one reason they enjoy working for Cochlear is the opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives.
The Opportunity
As the Product Owner Embedded Software, you will own the firmware roadmap and drive delivery of cutting-edge software that powers life-changing hearing solutions. You’ll partner closely with R&D engineers, Systems and Electrical teams, I&V testers, and Global Strategic Marketing to translate customer needs into high-quality embedded-software functionality. This role offers the chance to shape product vision in a regulated, mission-driven environment and see your work directly impact real users in the field.
Responsibilities include:
Team Leadership & Continuous Improvement
Drive a culture of technical excellence by reducing technical debt, maintaining long-lived design documentation, and implementing in-field telemetry/diagnostic hooks
Mentor other Associate Product Owners on Agile practices and best-in-class embedded-software processes
Product Vision & Backlog Ownership
Write clear, technically detailed user stories and software specifications (e.g., performance budgets, memory constraints)
Prioritise the embedded-software backlog—balancing new features, technical debt, and regulatory deliverables—to align with release milestones
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Liaise with Marketing, Systems, Electrical, Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality teams to define requirements, manage dependencies, and drive alignment
Represent embedded-software functionality in Clinical Trials and Customer Service interactions, ensuring all stakeholder considerations are captured
Integration & Verification (I&V) Coordination
Partner with the I&V Manager to define test strategies (hardware-in-the-loop, automated regression) and plan verification milestones
Manage the European I&V team, giving guidance and developing the team to enable them to implement best practices in testing and ensure quality in the embedded software outputs• Act as the I&V escalation point—tracking progress, identifying risks, and reporting status to R&D leadership
Release & Quality Accountability
Collaborate with Release Management to plan firmware builds, branching strategies, and regression cycles
Review completed work for “fit & finish,” ensuring compliance with ISO 13485/FDA traceability and that all acceptance criteria are met
About You
As Cochlear continues to grow, we’re looking for people who share our passion for delivering quality hearing solutions. To excel in this role, you will demonstrate:
Technical Leadership
Significant experience in embedded-software development environments, with proficiency in C/C++, RTOS concepts, MCUs, communication buses, and peripheral drivers
Hands-on expertise with build systems (Make/CMake), Git branching/merge strategies, CI pipelines, and debugging tools (JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers)
Experience in embedded software testing strategy development and execution
People Leadership
Proven ability to build and refine the Product Owner and I&V functions—mentoring Associate Product Owners, running Product Chapters, and driving Agile and embedded software testing best practices—while partnering with senior R&D leadership
Regulated-Device & I&V Knowledge
Familiarity with ISO 13485/FDA software requirements (SRS, HARA, traceability) and integration-level test planning
Proven track record of defining and executing software-level and system-level verification tests in hardware-in-the-loop or bench-test setups
Product Ownership & Agile Delivery
Demonstrated experience as a Product Owner in a Scrum/Agile context—writing technically detailed user stories, prioritising backlogs, and driving sprint/release cadence
Strong understanding of user-centred design principles at the firmware level, translating field data (error rates, battery telemetry) into actionable improvements
Stakeholder Management & Decision Quality
Proven ability to influence cross-functional leaders (Marketing, Systems, Clinical) and negotiate scope-versus-timeline trade-offs under ambiguity
Experience making data-driven decisions—using in-field telemetry and analytics to inform backlog priorities and future sprints
What makes this opportunity unique?
Mission-Driven Impact: Contribute directly to firmware that powers hearing implants, helping users reconnect with the world and improving quality of life
End-to-End Ownership: Shape every stage of the product lifecycle—from translating clinical needs into technical requirements to overseeing integration, verification, and field-telemetry analysis
Regulated-Device Environment: Gain deep exposure to ISO 13485/FDA processes, traceability practices, and system-level I&V testing within a medical-device context—an opportunity rarely found in pure software roles
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work side-by-side with Global Strategic Marketing, Systems and Electrical Engineering, I&V, Quality, and Clinical teams, giving you a 360° view of product development in a high-performance R&D ecosystem
Continuous Improvement Culture: Champion technical-debt reduction and introduce in-field telemetry for data-driven optimisations, empowering you to iterate and enhance both the product and the team’s processes
Innovation with Purpose: Propose and test novel embedded-software solutions (e.g., new telemetry hooks, hardware-in-the-loop verification methods) that directly address real-world hearing challenges
What we offer
An attractive remuneration package and flexible extra-legal benefits
An extensive onboarding and training program
An enjoyable work environment with attention to life-work balance and homeworking
A stimulating environment with growth opportunities and opportunity to meet multi-disciplinary colleagues across the globe
This is your chance to be part of a premier organization with a great culture, working in a dynamic, growing and rapidly evolving environment to deliver outstanding results that benefit our customers every day. Be part of something purposeful and APPLY now by clicking on the link below and see your career grow!
Cochlear Summary
Cochlear’s mission is to help people hear and be heard. Around the world, more people chose a Cochlear-branded hearing implant system than any other. Our employees tell us that the number one reason they enjoy working for Cochlear is the opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives. Learn and grow with us as we tackle the most complex challenges in helping people to Hear Now. And Always. Cochlear is the global market leader in implantable hearing solutions including cochlear implant systems (CI) and bone anchored hearing aids (Baha™).
Equal opportunities
Cochlear is committed to providing equal opportunities to avoid unlawful discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, religion/belief or age. In line with our corporate ethics and statutory obligations we strive to ensure that the work environment is free of harassment and bullying and that everyone is treated with dignity and respect - this is an important aspect of ensuring equal opportunities in employment.
Top Skills
What We Do
Hear now. And always
As the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, at Cochlear (ASX: COH) we are committed to our mission to help people hear and be heard. Our story started more than four decades ago when Professor Graeme Clark pioneered the world's first multi-channel cochlear implant and created an entirely new treatment for hearing loss.
Since our formation in 1981, we continue Professor Clark’s work to help people with moderate to profound hearing loss experience a life full of hearing.
We have provided more than 650,000 implantable devices. Each recipient helps form a global community of millions, through families, friends, colleagues, teachers and more. And they’re not just connected to their own community — each shares a link with each other and to Professor Clark’s childhood desire to help people hear.
We aim to give people the best lifelong hearing experience and access to innovative future technologies. We understand the privilege of connecting people to a life lived with hearing. And we listen, respond and move with the times – to continue to bring hearing within reach of all those who need it.
That's how we live our mission every day. Our global workforce of more than 4,000 people shares a collective determination to give more people the opportunity to enjoy a life of hearing.
Cochlear’s global headquarters are on the campus of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia with regional headquarters in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. Through our offices in over 180 countries we help people of all ages to hear.
Social Media Terms of Use http://bit.ly/2qRMEvY
