Lead Instrument Software Product Manager

Socket.dev; San Diego (CA); Hybrid; USD 118,000 - 177,000; Full time

Job summary

Illumina in the United States is seeking a Senior Software Technical Product Manager to own the software lifecycle for instrument platforms. You will partner with customers and internal teams to translate workflows into system requirements and drive software design decisions across software, firmware, hardware, and cloud interfaces.

The role emphasizes leading requirements, defining roadmaps, and communicating with senior management, with a hybrid work model and a broad benefits package

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, Bioinformatics, or related discipline.
• 4-7 years of experience in system analysis, design, and integration as a Technical Product Manager, Software Systems Engineer, or Solution Architect - preferably in instrument or embedded systems environments.
• Experience with IoT and connected device architectures, edge computing/containerization technologies, and hardware/firmware/software integration as applied to instrument platforms.
• Familiarity with medical device product development, risk analysis (e.g., FMEA), regulatory compliance (e.g., IEC 62304, FDA guidance), and cybersecurity frameworks, with the ability to identify risks and recommend mitigations.
• Knowledge of formalized requirements engineering methods and tools, including traceability across system, software, and test levels.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment to define project scope and objectives and to plan across multiple concurrent instrument development efforts with minimal guidance.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills for both technical and non-technical audiences, including presentations to Senior Management.
• Ability to synthesize complex technical and operational information from cross-functional stakeholders and distill it into coherent system plans and designs that produce user-centric instrument software solutions.
• Experience with enterprise process management tools (Jama, Jira, Confluence) and prototyping/visualization tools (e.g., Balsamiq, Axure, Figma) desired.

Responsibilities

• Own instrument software across its full lifecycle - from product definition and detailed requirements through implementation, production release, and end of life - ensuring alignment with Illumina's instrument platform strategy.
• Define and drive product roadmaps for instrument software in partnership with Marketing and Product Management, tracking progress against business objectives and platform milestones.
• Serve as the subject-matter expert for your instrument software product, with deep command of its capabilities, underlying components, and how they integrate with the broader instrument system.
• Lead requirements elicitation and system decomposition for instrument platform features, translating system models and user workflows into clear, effective system-level requirements.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary engineering teams (software, firmware, hardware, test) to transform user needs into a strong product concept and drive software design decisions - including design improvements for on-market instrument platforms.
• Collaborate with development teams in release planning and backlog prioritization at the component level; plan scope for releases and review feature readiness against instrument platform quality standards.
• Lead use case development, requirements analysis, and review meetings that span instrument software and its interfaces with hardware, consumables, and cloud systems.
• Create wireframes, workflow diagrams, and process-flow visualizations to communicate instrument software architecture and user interactions.
• Write formal, detailed software requirement specifications and design documentation in compliance with Illumina's product development processes.
• Manage requirements priority, change control, and planning for future instrument platform versions in a scalable and sustainable manner.
• Support Voice of Customer (VOC) efforts - develop customer personas across clinical, research, and applied segments and advocate on their behalf to shape instrument experiences that maximize satisfaction.
• Gather competitive and market analysis to define the sequencing instrument landscape and surface actionable product gaps.
• Identify risks and drive mitigation recommendations within your area of responsibility and at critical interfaces between instrument software, firmware, and system-level teams.
• Provide technical expertise in identifying, evaluating, and developing procedures that are cost-effective and meet user and business needs for the instrument platform.

Skills

System analysis & design

IoT architectures

Edge computing

Containerization

Hardware integration

Regulatory compliance

Cybersecurity basics

Strong communication

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS / Biomedical Eng / Bioinformatics

Related discipline

Tools

Jama

Jira

Confluence

Balsamiq

Axure

Figma

Job description

Illumina in the United States is seeking a Senior Software Technical Product Manager to own the software lifecycle for instrument platforms. You will partner with customers and internal teams to translate workflows into system requirements and drive software design decisions across software, firmware, hardware, and cloud interfaces.

The role emphasizes leading requirements, defining roadmaps, and communicating with senior management, with a hybrid work model and a broad benefits package