Vice President of Engineering and Product

Role Overview

WearOptimo is developing a pain-free, minimally invasive Microwearable sensor that sits on the skin like a sticker and can measure hydration levels. The company’s platform is designed to expand far beyond hydration and to capture important healthcare signals that are not being tracked by current wearables or other methods. With its technology platform, intellectual property, strong leadership group, international advisers and advanced manufacturing already in place, the business is now focused on moving from technology to product.

This position is for an accomplished Vice President of Engineering and Product who will report directly to the CEO and lead the company’s engineering, advanced manufacturing and product execution. The role works closely with the AI / quantitative science function to build products that perform consistently in real-world industrial and clinical environments while supporting the wider company strategy.

Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing and Product Leadership

• Take full ownership of engineering and advanced manufacturing across electronics, firmware, embedded software, application software, hardware, manufacturing processes and product development.
• Create and drive the engineering and product roadmap for the Microwearable hydration sensor and future platform products, aligned with the CEO and Board’s strategy.
• Guide the full product journey from concept and prototype to pilot rollout, manufacturing readiness and commercial launch, while balancing user needs, technical practicality, manufacturing readiness and regulatory obligations.
• Recruit, grow and retain a high-performing team across engineering, advanced manufacturing and product, including clear role design, career structure, performance management and a culture suited to regulated medical device commercialisation.
• Work in close partnership with the AI / quantitative science team so that algorithm development and product engineering are sequenced properly, integrated well and mutually accountable.
• Set up and manage the operating rhythm for engineering, including planning, prioritisation, sprint and milestone tracking, and learning loops such as post-mortems and retrospectives.
• Build and maintain a disciplined development process with defined milestones, decision points, timelines, dependencies and delivery ownership.
• Own the interface between product engineering and advanced manufacturing, including progress on nanoimprint lithography-based plastic microelectrode manufacturing as well as ongoing silicon-based research and clinical/field-trial sensor production.
• Ensure technical choices support the company’s manufacturing plan and unit economics, including the route to commercially sustainable per-unit cost levels.
• Partner with the CEO, the Chief Technology Officer where relevant, and external regulatory advisers to make sure engineering work is run within the applicable regulated quality system, with complete traceability and strong design-control discipline.
• Encourage the safe and effective use of AI-assisted engineering tools while keeping clear accountability for all artefacts that affect the regulated quality system.

Field, Customer and Clinical Validation

• Convert WearOptimo’s technology into products that can be manufactured and deployed at scale.
• Lead the engineering and advanced manufacturing contribution to clinical trial design, real-world field trials and early commercial deployments, working alongside clinical, regulatory and commercial teams.
• Use customer, field-trial and pilot feedback to refine product and engineering priorities and improve performance, usability and commercial readiness.
• Represent the engineering strength and integrity of the product to customers, strategic partners, advisory board members and potential investors.

Leadership Expectations

• Serve as a key member of the leadership team and contribute to company strategy, commercial direction, hiring, governance and culture.
• Track progress against plans, timelines and budgets, and escalate risks, dependencies, trade-offs and decisions to the CEO in a timely way.
• Help the CEO communicate the engineering, advanced manufacturing and product roadmap to stakeholders.
• At the CEO’s discretion, engage with the Board of Directors and Advisory Board on matters related to engineering, product and technology.
• Model the behaviour, values and operating standards expected of a senior leader in a deep-tech medtech company moving through professionalisation.

Required Qualifications

The company is seeking someone with substantial senior-level experience in engineering, product development and advanced manufacturing in comparable product-commercialisation leadership roles. The ideal candidate should have a proven record of leading high-performing teams to successful outcomes, taking products or technology from development into commercial adoption, and delivering products in medical-grade environments.

Applicants should be comfortable working across technical, operational, clinical, regulatory and commercial functions, and should be able to engage customers, partners and other stakeholders to shape priorities and delivery. A tertiary qualification in engineering, physics or a related technical field is required.

Preferred Background

Experience in healthtech, medtech, deep tech or advanced manufacturing would be an advantage, as would exposure to startup, scale-up or other high-growth settings. Familiarity with capital raising, investor engagement, board communication, regulated medical device markets or WearOptimo’s target sectors is also desirable.

What Success Looks Like

The role calls for strong engineering leadership, fast and thoughtful decision-making, consistent delivery against milestones, and a solid understanding of the relationship between product design, manufacturing scale-up, unit economics and process capability in precision-fabrication settings. Success also depends on strong collaboration across engineering, product, quantitative science, clinical, regulatory and commercial teams, together with clear communication, transparency, accountability and the ability to reset plans when circumstances change.

About WearOptimo

WearOptimo is on a mission to transform personal healthcare through wearable technology. The company’s multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in biomedical engineering, advanced manufacturing, AI and data science, software development, regulatory affairs and commercialisation to turn cutting-edge science into products with real-world impact.