Principal System Architect

Job title: Principal System Architect

About the Role Lead the development of the system architecture discipline at Coloplast and help shift from product-centric to platform-based development in a global R&D environment. You will shape how we work with system architecture, requirements, modularization, and platform building, and contribute to devices that improve users’ lives daily. You will join the Requirements Engineering Team within the Centre of Excellence in R&D and collaborate with global process owners and architects on large strategic development projects.

What You'll Do

• Lead and support the implementation of platform-based product development and manufacturing process development.
• Strengthen and mature the system architecture discipline by defining and evolving processes, methods, and best practices.
• Build system architecture capabilities across the organization through training, sparring, coaching, and knowledge sharing.
• Shape and communicate the value of system architecture as part of ongoing transformation initiatives.
• Align stakeholders across a complex, cross-functional environment by engaging, listening, and creating shared understanding.
• Drive results through colleagues, including other system architects, project managers, program managers and system engineers, in a motivating and engaging way.
• Contribute hands-on to development projects as a trusted architecture resource, delivering artefacts (system design, interface specifications, functional analysis, impact analysis).
• Translate inputs from across the business (e.g. commercial, regulatory, manufacturing) into clear and usable system architecture decisions and artefacts, ensuring different perspectives are reflected.
• Ensure system architecture is effectively integrated with related development disciplines such as requirements engineering, test, and documentation management.
• Leverage solid experience in system architecture for physical product development.

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years of experience in system architecture, preferably for physical products and hardware-based systems, not solely software.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and a proven ability to drive alignment across functions, disciplines, and organizational levels.
• Comfortable working across engineering, product management, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, and other key functions.
• Experience leading or influencing organizational change, including the implementation of new ways of working, processes, or engineering practices.
• Ability to provide technical leadership, coaching, and architectural guidance to teams and stakeholders.
• Extensive hands-on experience with systems engineering for complex products, including system architecture, requirements management, interface management, verification, and validation.
• Proven experience establishing, evolving, and governing system architecture and systems engineering practices.
• Experience with modular architecture, product platforms, and reusable architectural building blocks that support platform-based product development.
• Strong knowledge and practical application of systems engineering principles, methods, and best practices, including recognized industry frameworks such as INCOSE.
• Experience contributing directly to development projects and delivering architecture artefacts from concept through implementation.
• Proven experience operating in regulated product development environments balancing technical, quality, risk, regulatory, and design control requirements.
• Ability to translate diverse business, user, and technical needs into clear architecture decisions and system-level solutions.
• Strong architectural judgement balancing commercial, technical, regulatory, manufacturing, and user considerations.
• Experience defining system boundaries, interfaces, and reusable architectural building blocks for platform-based product development.
• Motivated by shaping long-term architectural direction.

Nice to Have

• Experience in the medical device industry is valuable, but candidates with backgrounds in aerospace, defense, industrial automation, robotics, windmill industry, or advanced consumer products are also welcome.