Software Delivery Lead

Alcon MX; Lake Forest (IL); On-site; USD 128,000 - 166,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and well-being programs

Retirement planning

Job summary

Alcon seeks a Software Delivery Lead to drive delivery predictability and readiness discipline for embedded and regulated software programs. This role lacks people management but emphasizes start-ready planning, milestone tracking, risk surfacing, and clear trade-off framing for leadership decisions.

Responsibilities include coordinating cross-functional dependencies, creating status dashboards, and guiding budgets and resource planning while ensuring compliant delivery across parallel programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of directly related experience (or high school +13 yrs.; Assoc.+9 yrs.; M.S.+2 yrs.; PhD+0 yrs.)
• The ability to fluently read, write, understand, and communicate in English
• 5 Years of Relevant Experience

Responsibilities

• Delivery Orchestration & Predictability: own planning and delivery for assigned software programs
• Define and enforce readiness criteria before execution begins
• Track execution against milestones and commitments
• Use delivery indicators to surface risks early and manage dependencies
• Create dashboards to communicate delivery status, progress and risks
• Coordinate dependencies across software, hardware, regulatory, quality and operations teams

Skills

English fluency

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Microsoft Project

Planner

Job description

Role Overview

The Software Delivery Lead is responsible for delivery predictability, readiness discipline, and execution orchestration for complex, embedded, and regulated software programs. This role does not include people management or technical design authority. Instead, it focuses on ensuring that software work starts ready, progresses predictably, risks are surfaced early, and delivery trade‑offs are framed clearly for decision‑making.

Key Responsibilities

• Delivery Orchestration & Predictability
• Own planning and delivery for assigned software programs
• Define and enforce readiness criteria before execution begins
• Track execution against milestones and commitments
• Use delivery indicators and milestone confidence signals to surface risks early
• Identify delivery risks, dependencies, and constraint violations proactively
• Experience managing delivery in environments with both iterative and milestone-driven work
• Status & Planning Coordination
• Serve as the primary point of contact for software delivery status, planning coordination, and cross‑functional dependencies
• Consolidate delivery inputs into clear, leadership‑ready updates
• Create dashboards to communicate delivery status, progress and risks
• Ensure consistent delivery messaging across project and program forums
• Scope, Resource & Budget Trade‑off Management
• Lead structured scope change impact assessments across: Schedule Capacity Cost Dependencies Risk
• Support delivery‑level resource planning and identify capacity risks early
• Track software delivery budget and spend at the project or program level
• Frame trade‑off options and support commitment resets when required
• Cross‑Functional Coordination
• Coordinate dependencies across software, hardware, systems, quality, regulatory, and operations teams
• Remove blockers or escalates when resolution exceeds team‑level authority
• Support one or more projects in parallel, depending on size and complexity

Role Boundaries

This role owns Delivery orchestration and readiness discipline
Execution tracking and delivery predictability
Delivery risk identification and escalation
Cross‑functional coordination and dependency management
Delivery‑level resource and budget visibility
This role does NOT own People management or performance management
Software architecture or technical design authority
Formal technical or regulatory approval or sign‑off
Cost center ownership or financial approvals
Tool administration or Scrum‑only ceremony ownership
Authority & Leadership Model
The Senior Software Delivery Lead leads delivery orchestration, readiness, and cross‑functional coordination. Final trade‑off decisions when scope, schedule, risk, and quality conflict remain with senior leadership. Strong facilitation and communication skills, with a proven ability to lead through ambiguity Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and coordinate across stakeholder groups

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or Equivalent years of directly related experience (or high school +13 yrs. Assoc.+9 yrs.; M.S.+2 yrs.; PhD+0 yrs.)
• The ability to fluently read, write, understand, and communicate in English
• 5 Years of Relevant Experience

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years as an embedded software developer
• Delivery or program certifications such as PMP, SAFe, or equivalent
• Experience supporting multiple concurrent programs in regulated environments
• 8+ years of experience in software delivery, technical program management, or delivery leadership
• Experience delivering embedded and/or regulated software, including hardware‑software dependencies
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence without direct authority
• Strong executive‑level communication and stakeholder management skills
• Experience with delivery and planning tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, Microsoft Project, or Planner
• Strong understanding of the software development life cycle and working with technical teams

What Success Looks Like

Predictable software delivery with fewer late surprises
Clear readiness before execution begins
Early visibility into schedule, capacity, and budget risks
Reduced coordination and status burden on Software Leads
Sustainable execution across multiple parallel programs

Compensation and Benefits

Alcon’s Total Rewards programs are designed to align incentives with business objectives, support our values, and deliver long‑term value. Our compensation approach includes a combination of fixed and variable pay, with short‑term and long‑term incentive opportunities for eligible roles.

• Our benefits offerings are designed to support associates and their families across key life events, including programs that promote health and well‑being, provide financial security, and support retirement planning.

The salary range posted represents the anticipated hiring range for this role. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as experience, skills, location, and internal equity, and may fall outside the posted range.

Pay Range 128,350.00 - 166,100.00 Pay Frequency Annual

Alcon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-Verify.

Alcon takes pride in maintaining a diverse environment and our policies are not to discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Alcon is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an email to [e-mail] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

At Alcon, we are committed to helping people see better. We believe patients should have access to quality eye care regardless of their economic circumstances; however, barriers to good eye health exist for patients in both developed and emerging markets. Alcon develops and manufactures innovative devices to serve the full life cycle of eye care needs. Its surgical group is one of the largest makers of equipment used for cataract removal and laser vision correction. Its consumer products include the well‑known Opti‑Free line of contact lens solutions and related products. Alcon, which was founded in 1945, sells its products in 180 countries worldwide.