Software Delivery Lead

Location: Lake Forest, CA (on-site)
Job Type: Full-time
Role Type: Individual Contributor

Role Overview

At Alcon, we're passionate about enhancing sight and helping people see brilliantly. With more than 25,000 associates, we innovate fearlessly, champion progress, and act swiftly to impact global eye health. We foster an inclusive culture, recognizing your contributions and offering opportunities to grow your career like never before. Together, we make a difference in the lives of our patients and customers. Are you ready to join us?

The Software Delivery Lead is accountable for driving predictable execution and delivery outcomes for complex software programs. The role leads integrated delivery planning, readiness, dependency management, commitment visibility, and execution orchestration.

The Software Delivery Lead works in close partnership with the Software Lead:

• Software Lead: Owns technical direction, engineering decisions, technical quality, and engineering leadership.
• Software Delivery Lead: Owns integrated delivery planning, readiness, commitment visibility, dependency coordination, and execution orchestration.

This role does not include people management, software architecture ownership, or technical design authority.

Key Responsibilities

Delivery Leadership and Predictable Execution

• Own integrated delivery planning and execution for assigned software programs.
• Establish clear commitments, milestones, readiness expectations, and execution plans.
• Define and enforce readiness criteria before execution begins.
• Monitor execution and milestone confidence to identify risks, dependencies, capacity constraints, and plan deviations early.
• Drive corrective actions and recovery plans when commitments are at risk.
• Support delivery environments that combine iterative development with milestone-driven program commitments.

Delivery Planning and Leadership Visibility

• Serve as the primary point of contact for software delivery status, integrated planning, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Maintain an accurate, consolidated view of delivery progress, milestone confidence, risks, dependencies, and forecasts.
• Provide clear, decision-ready updates to software, project, program, and senior leadership.
• Ensure consistent delivery commitments and messaging across project and program forums.
• Provide decision-ready inputs into Software R&D portfolio reviews and Monthly Operating Reviews covering milestones, delivery forecasts, dependencies, capacity, risks, and required leadership decisions.
• Use dashboards and delivery indicators to support execution, decisions, and escalation rather than reporting alone.

Scope, Resource, and Budget Trade-off Management

• Lead structured assessments of scope changes and their impact on schedule, capacity, cost, dependencies, quality, regulatory commitments, and delivery risk.
• Support delivery-level resource planning and identify capacity or skill constraints early.
• Maintain visibility into software delivery budgets and spend at the project or program level.
• Frame clear trade-off options and recommend commitment adjustments when plans are no longer achievable.
• Escalate trade-offs requiring technical, quality, regulatory, financial, project, or senior-leadership decisions.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Coordinate dependencies across software, hardware, systems, quality, regulatory, operations, and other applicable functions.
• Establish clear owners and completion expectations for cross-functional dependencies.
• Drive resolution of blockers within established program and functional boundaries, escalating when resolution requires leadership intervention.
• Support one or more programs in parallel, depending on program size and complexity.

Role Boundaries

This role owns

• Integrated software delivery planning and execution orchestration
• Delivery readiness, commitment visibility, and milestone confidence
• Delivery risk identification, corrective-action coordination, and escalation
• Cross-functional dependency coordination
• Delivery-level resource, capacity, and budget visibility
• Delivery forecasts, trade-off recommendations, and decision-ready leadership reporting
• Consistent delivery inputs into portfolio reviews and Monthly Operating Reviews

This role does not own

• People management or performance management
• Software architecture, engineering decisions, or technical quality
• Formal technical, quality, or regulatory approval
• Cost-center ownership or financial approval
• Final approval of material scope, schedule, quality, regulatory, or financial trade-offs
• Tool administration or Scrum-only ceremony ownership

Authority and Leadership Model

The Software Delivery Lead is accountable for driving resolution of delivery issues and recommending trade-offs when commitments are at risk. The role drives corrective actions within established program boundaries and escalates decisions involving scope, schedule, capacity, cost, quality, or regulatory commitments to the appropriate accountable leader.

The Software Delivery Lead does not independently approve technical, quality, regulatory, financial, or material program trade-offs. Final decisions remain with the applicable accountable leaders.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO ALCON:

*Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent years of directly related experience (or high school +13 yrs. Assoc.+9 yrs.; M.S.+2 yrs.; PhD+0 yrs.)

*The ability to fluently read, write, understand, and communicate in English

*5 Years of Relevant Experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience delivering embedded and/or regulated software, including management of hardware-software dependencies.
• Prior hands-on software-development experience, preferably with embedded or medical-device software.
• Experience supporting multiple concurrent programs with complex cross-functional dependencies.
• Experience with portfolio reviews, operating reviews, delivery forecasting, and capacity planning.
• Delivery or program-management certification such as PMP, SAFe, or an equivalent credential.

What Success Looks Like

• Predictable software delivery with fewer late surprises.
• Clear readiness and realistic commitments before execution begins.
• Delivery risks and deviations are identified early and driven to resolution.
• Leadership receives clear, consistent, and decision-ready delivery forecasts.
• Cross-functional dependencies and trade-offs are resolved or escalated in time to protect commitments.
• Software Leads and Software Delivery Leads operate as effective partners, with clear accountability for technical leadership and delivery execution.

HOW YOU CAN THRIVE AT ALCON:

*See your career like never before with focused growth and development opportunities

*Join Alcon's mission to provide outstanding, innovative products and solutions to improve sight, improve lives, and grow your career!

*Alcon provides robust benefits package including health, life, retirement, flexible time off for exempt associates, PTO for hourly associates, and much more!

Alcon Careers

See your impact at alcon.com/careers

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Compensation and Benefits

Alcon's Total Rewards programs are designed to align incentives with business objectives, support our values, and deliver longterm value. Our compensation approach includes a combination of fixed and variable pay, with shortterm and longterm incentive opportunities for eligible roles. Our benefits offerings are designed to support associates and their families across key life events, including programs that promote health and wellbeing, provide financial security, and support retirement planning.

The salary range posted represents the anticipated hiring range for this role. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as experience, skills, location, and internal equity, and may fall outside the posted range.

Pay Range

Pay Frequency

Alcon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-Verify. Alcon takes pride in maintaining a diverse environment and our policies are not to discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. Alcon is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an email to alcon.recruitment@alcon.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.