Cochlear’s mission is to help people hear and be heard. As the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, Cochlear is dedicated to helping people with moderate to profound hearing loss experience a world full of sound. We aim to transform the way people understand and treat hearing loss and innovate to connect people with future technologies. Our employees tell us that the number one reason they enjoy working for Cochlear is the opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives. Learn and grow with us as we tackle the most complex challenges in helping more people to experience a lifetime of hearing.
Define and shape end‑to‑end system architecture for future medical device platforms
Champion product family engineering, variability modelling, architectural reuse and scalability across R&D
Act as principal technical authority influencing strategy, innovation and system design
The Opportunity
The Principal System Architect, PFE is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining, governing and evolving Cochlear’s end-to-end system architectures across complex medical device platforms. Operating at a strategic level, you will anticipate future product needs, identify architectural gaps, and drive the development of scalable, reusable system architectures that align with Cochlear’s long-term strategy.
This role is central to establishing and championing Product Family Engineering (PFE) practices across R&D. You will influence multiple product lines, embedded technology platforms and research initiatives, while ensuring architectural decisions meet regulatory, quality and performance requirements.
Responsibilities include:
Define and lead L1/L2 system architecture development across complex, multi‑disciplinary medical device systems
Establish architectural roadmaps aligned to Cochlear’s product, platform and corporate strategies
Champion Product Family Engineering practices, including variability management, architectural reuse and core asset optimisation
Make system‑level architectural decisions across multiple domains in ambiguous and complex technical environments
Ensure system architectures meet current and future regulatory, safety and quality requirements
Apply model‑based systems engineering (MBSE) principles to document, analyse and communicate complex architectures
Identify and mitigate architectural risks with consideration of broader organisational and portfolio impact
Provide senior technical leadership, coaching and mentorship to architects, engineers and subject matter experts
Act as a bridge between system architecture, embedded platforms, R&T and product development teams
About You. As we grow our operations, we are looking for people who share our passion delivering safe, effective, and high-quality hearing solutions. To add value to Cochlear in this role, you'll be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:
Extensive experience defining and delivering system architectures for complex products, ideally in regulated environments
Strong grounding in systems engineering and architectural principles including decomposition, interfaces and integration
Expertise in Product Family Engineering or architectural reuse strategies across multiple product platforms
Understanding of medical device regulatory and standards requirements and their impact on system architecture
Experience applying or championing MBSE approaches (e.g., SysML or similar modelling methodologies)
Strong technical decision-making capability in ambiguous, cross-functional contexts
Ability to communicate complex architectural concepts clearly to diverse technical and senior stakeholder groups
What Would Make You Stand Out
Experience establishing organisation‑wide architectural practices or PFE frameworks, or leading global architecture communities to improve reuse, alignment and long‑term system scalability across multiple product portfolios.
Why this role is for you?
This role is for an architect who wants to influence at scale. You’ll shape the structural foundations of Cochlear’s future hearing solutions, drive strategic reuse and consistency across platforms, and apply world‑class systems thinking to technologies that transform lives.
If you feel that you have the skills and experience to be successful in this role and take on new challenges to build your career with Cochlear, please start your application by clicking the apply button below.
#CochlearCareers
How we recognise your contribution
At Cochlear we value and welcome the unique contributions, perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds of our employees and aim to build a culture that celebrates and leverages these differences, creating a sense of belonging and enabling our people to realise their full potential. Through our internal programs and employee benefits, we aim to create an environment where our people will feel value and supported. Whether your focus is on continuous learning, professional development or simply finding an environment which enables you to thrive whilst balancing family or personal life commitments, then we have several programs in place to support you.
For more information about Life at Cochlear, visit www.cochlearcareers.com
