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 & Architecture Leadership

The Head of Software Development is accountable for the

end-to-end ownership of the software development lifecycle

across frontend, backend, and mobile platforms, ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality, scalable, and resilient software solutions. This includes strategic oversight from early concept and architectural design through development, deployment, and ongoing optimization in production environments.

The role leads the definition and evolution of

modern software architectures

, encompassing:

• Customer-facing frontend applications built on contemporary web frameworks
• Backend platforms based on

cloud-native, containerized microservices architectures

• Native and cross-platform mobile applications for iOS and Android ecosystems

The incumbent establishes and governs best practices in

API design, performance optimization, scalability, security, and long-term maintainability

, ensuring that software platforms can evolve sustainably alongside business growth and technological advancement. Architectural decisions are expected to balance innovation with robustness, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency across global deployments.

• AI / ML Enablement and Intelligent Systems

The role provides strategic and technical leadership for the

development, integration, and scaling of AI- and ML-enabled capabilities

across Vision Care Solutions’ digital products. This includes guiding the creation of AI/ML engines and models trained on

domain-specific datasets

, aligned with real-world clinical, operational, and customer workflows.

Working closely with product management, data science, and business stakeholders, the Head of Software Development translates complex business challenges into

practical, value-generating AI-driven solutions

. The role ensures that AI capabilities are embedded responsibly and effectively into software platforms, enhancing decision-making, automation, and user experience.

A strong emphasis is placed on

responsible AI practices

, including model quality, transparency, explain ability, security, and regulatory compliance. The incumbent ensures that AI solutions meet ZEISS’s standards for precision, trustworthiness, and ethical use, particularly within healthcare and medical-technology contexts.

• Engineering Excellence, Delivery, and Operational Reliability

The position is responsible for establishing and sustaining a culture of

engineering excellence

across all software development activities. This includes defining and enforcing strong engineering standards, coding guidelines, architectural principles, and quality benchmarks across teams and locations.

The role drives the adoption and continuous improvement of

DevSecOps practices

, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing strategies, infrastructure-as-code, and observability frameworks. These practices ensure predictable, secure, and efficient delivery of software while enabling rapid feedback and continuous improvement.

In production environments, the Head of Software Development ensures

high availability, scalability, performance, and cost efficiency

, balancing speed of delivery with ZEISS’s uncompromising expectations for quality, precision, and reliability. Operational excellence is treated as a first-class responsibility, not an afterthought.

• People Leadership and Engineering Culture

As a senior people leader, the Head of Software Development builds, mentors, and leads a team of

Engineering Managers and senior engineers

, with an overall span of approximately 20 engineers. The role is responsible for shaping a

high-performing, inclusive, and product-oriented engineering organization.

The incumbent fosters a culture of:

• Ownership and accountability
• Collaboration across disciplines and geographies
• Continuous learning and technical mastery
• High standards of craftsmanship and quality

Leadership is exercised both strategically and hands-on, including active participation in architectural reviews, technical decision-making, and complex problem-solving when required. The role plays a critical part in

attracting, developing, and retaining top engineering talent

, ensuring strong succession planning and long-term organizational capability.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Global Collaboration

The Head of Software Development acts as a

trusted technology partner

to Vision Care Solutions leadership and works in close collaboration with global ZEISS R&D teams, product management, UX, data science, and business stakeholders.

The role translates customer, market, and business needs into

scalable, secure, and future-ready software solutions

, ensuring strong alignment between technology execution and strategic objectives. Operating within a global, matrixed environment, the incumbent enables effective collaboration across regions, functions, and cultures, contributing to a cohesive and aligned digital product strategy.

Through clear communication, technical credibility, and strategic insight, the role strengthens the impact of software engineering as a key enabler of innovation and competitive advantage within ZEISS Vision Care Solutions.

Education requirements / Experience / Job Specifications :

The ideal candidate brings

extensive professional experience and demonstrated leadership maturity

within complex, software-driven product organizations, coupled with a strong academic foundation and a passion for building high-performing engineering teams.

The role requires

12–18+ years of progressive experience in software engineering

, with a significant portion spent in senior technical and people leadership roles. Candidates should have a proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams and delivering large-scale, business-critical software platforms in dynamic and evolving environments.

Prior experience within

healthcare, medical technology, SaaS platforms, retail technology, or AI-enabled digital products

is strongly preferred. Exposure to regulated or quality-critical domains is considered a distinct advantage, particularly where software solutions directly impact customer outcomes, operational efficiency, or clinical workflows.

Demonstrated experience working within

global, matrixed R&D organizations

is highly desirable. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating across geographies, cultures, and functions, and capable of aligning distributed teams around shared technical vision, standards, and delivery goals.

A strong emphasis is placed on

people leadership capabilities

, including well-developed coaching and mentoring skills. The incumbent is expected to actively develop engineering talent, support career growth, and build sustainable leadership pipelines, while fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.

From an academic perspective, the role requires a

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline

. An equivalent combination of education and extensive professional experience may also be considered.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a

customer-centric and outcome-driven mindset

, consistently translating business and user needs into scalable, high-quality technical solutions. Strategic thinking must be complemented by a strong sense of ownership and execution discipline.

From a technical standpoint, the role demands

deep, hands-on expertise

across modern software engineering domains, including:

• Contemporary frontend application development frameworks and practices
• Backend systems based on

cloud-native, microservices-oriented architectures

• Native and cross-platform mobile application development for iOS and Android
• AI/ML model development and deployment

, leveraging domain-driven and production-grade datasets

• Strong understanding of cloud platforms, containerization technologies, and distributed systems

In addition, the candidate must have a proven ability to design and deliver

secure, high-performance, and highly scalable software solutions

, with a strong appreciation for software quality, reliability, and long-term maintainability.

Overall, this role requires a balanced profile that combines

technical depth, strategic leadership, people development capability, and business acumen

, enabling the incumbent to drive sustainable impact within ZEISS Vision Care Solutions’ global digital ecosystem.