Chief Software Architect

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 114,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

About the Opportunity 

The Chief Software Architect will lead the end-to-end software architecture for Abbott’s Heart Failure Division, spanning Cloud, Backend Services, Databases, Web Applications, Mobile Applications, and Connected Devices. This role is responsible for defining and driving the technology strategy and architectural standards that enable scalable, secure, high-performing, and regulatory-compliant software systems supporting next-generation medical device platforms and digital health solutions. 

This individual brings deep technical expertise across multiple domains, strong leadership capabilities, and a collaborative mindset. Success in this role requires close partnership with product, clinical, regulatory, quality, compliance, security, and engineering teams within R&D to deliver robust enterprise solutions aligned with business objectives and clinical needs. 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities 

• Own and architect the end-to-end software architecture for IoT platforms—leveraging Cloud-native technologies across Backend Services, Databases, Web and Mobile Applications, and Medical Connected Devices—to ensure seamless interoperability, scalability, availability, security, maintainability, and regulatory compliance. 
• Lead enterprise software architecture for key initiatives by assessing current-state systems, defining future-state vision, identifying architectural gaps and areas of technical debt, and establishing principles and implementation models to bridge those gaps—particularly within clinical and regulated environments. 
• Apply structured architectural frameworks (e.g., the 4+1 View Model) to develop comprehensive system artifacts—including logical, process, development, deployment, and use case views—to support technical alignment and cross-team communication. 
• Lead Architecture Review Boards, technical design sessions, and cross-functional reviews to ensure architectural integrity, alignment with business goals, and adherence to best practices. 
• Collaborate closely with product management, clinical teams, regulatory, quality, compliance, security, and engineering leaders to ensure system architecture supports business needs, clinical workflows, and industry standards. 
• Guide engineering teams in modern software engineering practices—such as microservices, event-driven architecture, serverless computing, API design, Cloud-native development, DevOps, Kubernetes, CI/CD, automated testing, observability, and operational excellence. 
• Continuously evaluate and integrate emerging technologies (e.g., Generative AI, Agentic AI, etc.) to enhance engineering productivity, optimize system performance, and future-proof the technology stack. 
• Mentor and develop senior technical leaders, architects, and engineering teams to build deep technical expertise and architectural rigor across the organization. 
• Serve as a senior technical advisor to executive leadership, translating complex architectural concepts into clear, actionable business insights. 

Education and Experience You'll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. 
• 10+ years of progressive experience in software development and architecture across the full technology stack.  
• 2+ years of experience in people management, technical leadership, or mentoring senior engineers and architects. 
• Advanced to expert-level knowledge of software architecture, systems design, application integration, and platform scalability. 
• Deep understanding of cloud architecture principles, including PaaS, SaaS, multi-tenancy, and multi-tiered infrastructure, with hands-on experience in Azure, AWS, or GCP. 
• Hands-on experience with modern architectural patterns, such as microservices, event-driven systems, serverless computing, and scalable integration strategies. 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex systems and make data-driven decisions. 
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. 
• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills, including emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and the ability to thrive in a shared leadership environment. 
• Proven ability to mentor, coach, and develop senior engineers and technical leaders across diverse teams. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field. 
• Deep expertise in web technologies, API design, databases, streaming platforms, and CI/CD pipelines and test automation. 
• Proven experience building high-performance, distributed systems that solve large-scale engineering challenges with strong attention to detail and accuracy. 
• Hands-on experience with Cloud-native technologies and modern development stacks, such as Spring Boot/Java (Backend), Ruby on Rails/Ruby (Backend), Angular/TypeScript (Web), Flutter/Dart (Mobile), and Kubernetes/Docker (Deployment). 
• Experience in healthcare or other regulated industries is a strong plus.

The base pay for this position is $169,300.00 – $338,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.