At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

About Roche Digital Technology (RDT)

Roche Digital Technology (RDT) is where innovation meets purpose. As a global team at the heart of Roche, we are a community of business-minded technologists committed to help shape tomorrow’s digital future of healthcare. Our mission is to power Roche through cutting-edge digital technologies, harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence, data, and scalable tech innovations. Driven by purpose and passion, we’re building a future where digital is a core strength across all of Roche, enabling smarter ways of working, unlocking human potential, and driving breakthroughs that truly matter for millions of patients around the world.

Role Summary

The Head of Software Development Platforms is a senior leadership role within Roche Digital Technology (RDT), reporting directly to the Head of Enterprise Platforms, Infrastructure and Engineering. This leader is accountable for the strategy, execution, and operational excellence of the platforms and tools that underpin the software development lifecycle (SDLC) at Roche.

This role is pivotal to Roche’s digital transformation and our mission of "Doing now what patients need next." By creating a world-class, frictionless, and compliant developer experience, you will directly impact the speed at which we deliver innovative medicines, diagnostics, and digital health solutions to patients worldwide.

You will lead a global organization of approximately 180 professionals organized as Platform Teams. Your organization provides the foundational capabilities in engineering experience, developer platforms, testing, risk management, and process automation that enable thousands of developers across our teams in Pharma, Diagnostics, and RDT functions.

The Opportunity:

• Strategic Leadership: Define and execute a forward-thinking strategic roadmap for Roche's software development ecosystem, aligning with enterprise-wide technology and business objectives.

• Organizational Leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop a global, high-performing organization of technology professionals. Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement by leading and developing leaders.

• Technology Modernization: Drive the simplification, modernization, and consolidation of the SDLC tool landscape to improve efficiency, reduce complexity, and lower total cost of ownership.

• DevSecOps Transformation: Champion and accelerate the enterprise-wide adoption of DevSecOps principles and practices, embedding security and quality into the development process from the start.

• AI in Development: Spearhead the integration and adoption of AI-enabled development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot) to boost developer productivity. Develop strategies for upskilling the workforce and evolving the role of low-code/automation platforms in an AI-driven era.

• GxP Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure all development and testing platforms are operated in a state of control and meet stringent GxP regulatory requirements (e.g., FDA 21 CFR Part 11) for validated systems.

• Senior Stakeholder Management: Serve as a trusted advisor and build strategic partnerships with senior leaders across RDT and business divisions (Pharma and Diagnostics) to ensure platform strategy meets their evolving needs.

• Financial & Vendor Management: Own and manage the budget for the Software Development Platforms organization, including strategic vendor relationships and contract negotiations.

• Operational Excellence: Guarantee the reliability, scalability, and performance of all developer platforms, ensuring they meet the demands of a global enterprise.

Who you are:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in software engineering, platform engineering, or DevOps.

• Proven experience leading "leaders of leaders" in a large-scale, global, and matrixed organization.

• Mandatory, deep experience in a regulated pharmaceutical (GxP) or life sciences environment.

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.

• Deep expertise in modern SDLC methodologies, DevSecOps principles, and CI/CD automation.

• Strategic understanding of cloud-native development ecosystems (AWS, Azure, Google) and container orchestration (Kubernetes).

• Knowledge of the evolving role of AI in the software development lifecycle.

• Familiarity with key enterprise platforms for requirements and test management is highly desirable.

• Demonstrated ability to craft and execute a long-term technology strategy that delivers measurable business value.

• Exceptional ability to lead through influence, build consensus, and drive change in a complex environment.

• A passion for developing talent and building inclusive, high-performing teams.

• Strong business and financial acumen, with experience managing significant budgets.

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.