Director Product Development

About Abbott

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 113,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

New IT Hub in Barcelona

Discover the vibrant city of Barcelona while advancing your career at Abbott. Our new IT Hub offers an exciting work environment where innovation meets the Mediterranean lifestyle. Enjoy the perfect blend of professional growth and cultural richness as you help shape the future of health.

https : / / www.jobs.abbott / us / en / digital-technology?lnkid=28187

About the Role

We are seeking a deeply technical and hands-on Director of Software Innovation & Prototyping to join our Office of the CTO (OCTO) in Barcelona. This role is designed to drive software innovation at its core building, testing, and iterating advanced prototypes and experimental digital solutions in healthcare.

As the technical counterpart to our commercial innovation lead, you will focus on rapid prototyping, emerging technologies, and development leadership. You'll operate with high autonomy and strategic influence, working closely with cross-functional global teams while remaining fully immersed in the code and architecture.

This role has no initial direct reports, but you will lead internal and external developers (contractors or agency teams) and guide projects from concept to proof-of-value. You will be the technical engine behind exploratory initiatives that can later scale into full product offerings.

Responsibilities :

Lead rapid prototyping and hands-on development of experimental software solutions with a focus on speed, learning, and innovation.

Translate early-stage ideas and unmet needs into working software concepts using modern stacks (React Native, Go, Python, GenAI).

Own architecture, development, and implementation of MVPs in close collaboration with business, design, and regulatory teams.

Partner closely with the non-technical innovation lead to align on roadmap, goals, and validation metrics.

Manage and scale agile development teams (contractors or vendors) as needed for project acceleration.

Continuously scout and test new technologies, frameworks, and tools applicable to healthcare and medical devices.

Ensure technical excellence, secure development practices, and reusability of validated prototypes.

Defines system level design and technology specific implementation patterns drawing upon industry best practices.

Provides overall technical leadership support in use case analysis, feature definition, user needs and functional and non-functional requirements.

Interfaces with appropriate resources to ensure development programs meet regulatory and customer requirements.

Who You Are :

A senior technologist with a builder mindset thrives on writing code, testing ideas, and iterating fast.

Experienced in full-stack or mobile-first development and skilled in leading technical direction for ambiguous or exploratory projects.

Comfortable shifting between architecting solutions, leading devs, and hands-on coding (especially during early-stage work).

Passionate about healthcare innovation and the opportunity to impact lives through software.

Experienced working in multidisciplinary and global teams; understands how to translate technical solutions into business value.

Willing to travel up to 30-40% and flexible with timezone coordination (Europe and Asia).

Required Qualifications :

8+ years of hands-on experience in software engineering, prototyping, or technical leadership roles.

Advanced experience with React Native, Golang, Python (especially in test automation), and generative AI frameworks.

Strong understanding of modern cloud platforms, CI / CD, API architectures, and scalable code practices.

Proven ability to lead technical teams (internal or external) through agile, outcome-driven development.

Experience in regulated or high-compliance environments is a plus (e.g., SaMD, digital health).

Fluent in English; additional European languages are a plus.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of healthcare technology from the inside out. You'll join a lean and empowered innovation team with direct access to global leadership and the freedom to explore bold ideas through working software. If you're looking to code, lead, and experiment in one of the most impactful industries this role is for you.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com / Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal

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