Embedded Software Team Lead
9 days ago
Bristol
Embedded Software Lead – MedTech Bristol (3–4 days on-site) £75,000 + £20,000–£25,000 bonus + excellent benefits KO2’s client is an innovative and fast-growing technology business developing advanced wearable devices within a medically regulated environment. They are now seeking an Embedded Software Medical Lead to play a critical role in shaping the next generation of their products, although being narrowly focused on highly specialised or niche medical systems. This is a leadership position within the R&D function, sitting alongside mechanical leadership and taking ownership of embedded software at a system level. The Opportunity You’ll act as the system-level lead across embedded software and hardware, driving design, integration, and validation of both current and next-generation wearable products. This role blends hands-on engineering, technical leadership, and cross-functional collaboration, giving you real influence over product direction without being confined to purely regulatory work. What You’ll Be Doing • Contribute to early-stage innovation, exploring new technologies in embedded systems and wearable applications, • Develop proof-of-concepts and functional prototypes, • Identify risks early and shape product direction through informed engineering decisions, • Support usability testing and concept validation, • Lead system design across software and hardware for new product development, • Own design control, risk management, and verification/validation activities, • Provide technical oversight and challenge solutions to ensure high-quality delivery, • Investigate complex technical issues and support resolution of field challenges, • Drive continuous improvements in performance, reliability, and cost, • Work closely with quality and cross-functional teams What KO2’s client is looking for • Strong background in embedded software development (ideally with some hardware exposure), • Experience working on physical products (not purely cloud or desktop systems), • Background in a regulated environment (medical, safety-critical, or similar preferred, but not overly specialised), • Solid understanding of full product lifecycle, from concept through to launch and improvement, • Experience with design control, testing, and documentation, • Strong communicator with the ability to lead and influence Technical skills: • Experience in C or C++ (or similar embedded languages), • Understanding of electronics or hardware integration (beneficial, not essential), • Awareness of cybersecurity and safety considerations This role would suit someone who: • Wants to step into or continue in a technical leadership role, • Enjoys working on tangible, real-world products, • Prefers broad engineering ownership rather than being siloed, • Has some exposure to regulated environments but doesn’t want an overly compliance-heavy role. Salary and Benefits • £75,000 base salary, • On-target bonus of £20,000–£25,000, • Strong benefits package, • A key leadership role in a growing R&D team, • The opportunity to work on cutting-edge wearable technology with real-world impact If you’re an embedded software engineer ready to lead at a systems level—and want to work on innovative wearable products in a collaborative, fast-moving environment—this could be a great next step.