Vice President of Software Engineering

Vice President of Software Engineering

Location: Santa Clara, California | On-site

The Opportunity

Picarro is seeking a Vice President of Engineering to provide strategic and operational leadership across its global engineering organization.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the VP of SW Engineering will define and execute the company's engineering strategy, lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, and drive the development of innovative, high-quality, and scalable products.

This leader will oversee the complete engineering lifecycle, spanning software, cloud platforms,  product architecture, and sustaining engineering. The successful candidate will bring a strong combination of technical depth, business acumen, organizational leadership, and execution discipline.

This is an opportunity for a forward-thinking engineering executive who can translate technology strategy into business results, accelerate product development, strengthen engineering capabilities, and build a high-performing organization.

Key Responsibilities

1. Engineering Strategy & Technology Leadership

• Define and execute a comprehensive engineering strategy aligned with Picarro's business objectives, product roadmap, and long-term growth plans.
• Drive technology innovation and product architecture across software and cloud-based solutions.
• Establish engineering priorities, technology roadmaps, and development strategies that support product differentiation, scalability, and competitiveness.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, engineering methodologies, and architectural approaches to enhance product capabilities and performance.
• Provide technical leadership in critical design decisions, complex engineering challenges, and strategic product initiatives.

1. Product Development & Engineering Execution

• Lead the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from concept and architecture through design, development, verification & validation.
• Drive disciplined product development processes, ensuring predictable execution, quality, cost effectiveness, and timely delivery.
• Strengthen collaboration between engineering, product management, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and commercial teams.
• Establish clear engineering milestones, accountability frameworks, and performance metrics.
• Champion design excellence, reliability, manufacturability, serviceability, and continuous product improvement.

1. Leadership of Multidisciplinary Engineering Teams

• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing global engineering organization across multiple disciplines and locations.
• Build organizational capabilities, leadership depth, and succession plans to support current and future business needs.
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, technical excellence, and continuous learning.
• Attract, retain, and develop exceptional engineering talent.
• Establish clear organizational structures, roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations.

1. Software, Digital & Systems Engineering

• Drive collaboration across hardware, firmware, embedded software, application software, and cloud platforms.
• Promote modern software engineering practices, scalable architecture, automation, and continuous integration and delivery.
• Strengthen systems engineering capabilities to ensure seamless integration of complex instrumentation and software solutions.
• Leverage data analytics, connectivity, and digital capabilities to enhance product functionality and customer value.
• Ensure engineering platforms and architectures support long-term product evolution and scalability.

1. Operational Excellence & Engineering Quality

• Establish and continuously improve engineering processes, development standards, and technical governance.
• Partner with Quality and Operations to strengthen design controls, verification and validation, reliability engineering, and product quality.
• Drive improvements in engineering productivity, development cycle times, resource utilization, and cost management.
• Promote design for manufacturability, testability, reliability, and lifecycle sustainability.
• Ensure engineering practices support applicable industry standards, regulatory requirements, and quality management systems.

1. Business & Executive Partnership

• Partner closely with the CEO, COO, Product Management, Sales, Manufacturing, and other executive leaders to align engineering priorities with business strategy.
• Translate customer needs, market opportunities, and competitive intelligence into actionable engineering roadmaps.
• Provide executive-level visibility into engineering performance, investment priorities, resource requirements, risks, and product development progress.
• Develop and manage engineering budgets, headcount plans, technology investments, and resource allocation.
• Support strategic customer engagements, technical discussions, and key business development opportunities when required.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline. An advanced degree is preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive engineering experience, including significant experience leading complex engineering organizations.
• 5+ years in senior engineering leadership roles, such as VP Engineering, Senior Director of Engineering, or an equivalent executive position.
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong experience developing and commercializing complex technology products, preferably involving sophisticated instrumentation, scientific equipment, analytical devices, industrial technology, or other hardware-software integrated products.
• Proven track record of taking products from concept through development, commercialization, and ongoing product lifecycle management.
• Experience leading global engineering teams and managing geographically distributed organizations.
• Strong understanding of systems architecture, product development methodologies, engineering quality, and operational excellence.
• Demonstrated ability to manage engineering budgets, resources, priorities, and organizational growth.
• Excellent executive communication, strategic thinking, decision-making, and cross-functional leadership skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in analytical instrumentation, gas measurement, spectroscopy, sensing technologies, environmental monitoring, or industrial measurement solutions.
• Familiarity with precision measurement technologies, scientific instrumentation, and complex electro-mechanical systems.
• Experience integrating embedded systems, firmware, software applications, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics into commercial products.
• Experience in organizations operating under ISO 9001 or other relevant quality management frameworks.
• Experience driving engineering transformation, platform modernization, and product portfolio optimization.
• Experience in a technology-driven, global organization with both hardware and software engineering teams.

What Success Looks Like

The successful VP of Engineering will:

• Establish a clear, forward-looking engineering strategy aligned with Picarro's business priorities.
• Build a cohesive, accountable, and high-performing global engineering organization.
• Improve product development execution, engineering predictability, and time to market.
• Strengthen product reliability, quality, scalability, and customer satisfaction.
• Accelerate innovation and technology differentiation across Picarro's product portfolio.
• Create strong alignment between Engineering, Product Management, Manufacturing, Quality, and Commercial teams.
• Develop a sustainable engineering organization capable of supporting Picarro's next phase of growth.

Leadership Profile

We are looking for a technically accomplished, commercially minded, and highly collaborative executive who combines strategic vision with hands-on engineering leadership.

The ideal candidate is:

• Strategic: Able to connect engineering investments and technology decisions to business outcomes.
• Technically Credible: Deeply understands complex engineering systems and can engage effectively with technical teams.
• Execution Focused: Translates strategy into clear priorities, measurable outcomes, and consistent delivery.
• People-Oriented: Builds strong leaders, develops talent, and creates an environment of accountability and innovation.
• Collaborative: Works effectively across executive leadership, product, manufacturing, quality, and commercial organizations.
• Customer Focused: Understands customer challenges and ensures engineering delivers meaningful, differentiated value.

The base salary range for this full-time position is $300K to $350K. Our total compensation package includes base salary, bonus eligibility, and equity. Your base salary range and title will be determined based on the location, experience, qualifications, skills, knowledge, level, and pay of employees in similar positions.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) plans
• Life, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Paid Time Off and Paid Holidays
• Employee Referral Program
• 401K
• Social events (summer picnic, holiday party, team lunches, etc.)
• On-site Health & Wellness programs (fitness challenges, outdoor bootcamp, flu-shots, etc.)

About Picarro:

We are the world's leader in timely, trusted, and actionable data using enhanced optical spectroscopy. Our solutions are used in a wide variety of applications, including natural gas leak detection, ethylene oxide emissions monitoring, semiconductor fabrication, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, atmospheric science, air quality, greenhouse gas measurements, food safety, hydrology, ecology, and more. Our software and hardware are designed and manufactured in Santa Clara, California and are used in over 90 countries worldwide based on over 65 patents related to cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technology and are unparalleled in their precision, ease of use, and reliability.

At Picarro, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status, gender identity, social orientation, or disability. Posted positions are not open to third-party recruiters/agencies, and unsolicited resume submissions will be considered free referrals. 

At Picarro, we strive to ensure that all individuals, regardless of their abilities, have equal opportunities. If you are an individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability or unable to access or use this online application process and need an alternative method for applying, please contact Picarro, Inc. at [email protected] for assistance.