Product Owner - Laboratory Instrument Software (Flow Cytometry)

About the Role

Join Cepheid as Product Owner for software that controls laboratory instruments, captures data, and enables analysis. You will ensure software–hardware alignment, regulatory compliance, and drive the product evolution by collaborating with cross-functional teams. What You'll Do

• Conduct in-depth research on end users (researchers, clinical laboratory technologists, core lab managers) regarding instrument control, data acquisition, and analysis software.

• Continuously gather and analyze feedback from users, market competitors (e.g., BD FACSDiva, FACSChorus, FlowJo), and regulatory requirements to define the product’s evolution path.

• Collaborate with hardware, systems, UX design, and quality & regulatory teams to ensure software-hardware alignment and compatibility.

• Serve as the Product Owner within a Scrum framework; own, maintain, and prioritize the Product Backlog; break down high-level requirements into clear user stories and acceptance criteria; participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives.

• Provide on-site engineering support with the Dalian team to answer clarification questions in real time.

• Translate the Senior PO’s vision and wireframes into detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and annotated mockups.

• Proactively identify ambiguities in designs or requirements and resolve them before they become blockers.

• Contribute to a positive, high-trust team environment as a daily presence with the engineering team.

• Escalation discipline: know what to resolve locally vs. escalate to the Senior PO, and do so quickly.

• Take initiative while following direction from the Senior PO; fill gaps and move forward rather than waiting for every answer.

• Lead acceptance testing of user stories and requirements to ensure delivered features meet acceptance criteria.

• Monitor software performance metrics and user adoption data; analyze opportunities for iterative enhancement. What We're Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Immunology, Microbiology & Immunology, Hematology, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

• 5+ years’ laboratory experience in Immunology, Microbiology & Immunology, Hematology, or a similar field.

• Experience in software product management or as a Product Owner, preferably with laboratory instrument software, medical device software, IVD software, or complex scientific instrument software.

• Familiar with fundamental principles of flow cytometry (data acquisition, compensation, gating, fluorescence, cell sorting logic, multicolor analysis).

• Understand core functional modules of flow cytometry software (instrument control and status monitoring, automatic compensation and spectral unmixing algorithms, high‑dimensional data analysis such as t‑SNE/UMAP, batch processing, and workflow management).

• Strong requirements analysis ability; translate vague user needs into well‑structured, testable, implementable user stories.

• Proficient in written and spoken English; ability to work with international teams.

• Excellent prioritization and decision‑making skills; ability to balance competing stakeholder needs.

• Outstanding cross‑functional communication and collaboration skills; able to facilitate efficient cooperation between the local Dalian team and the Product Owner.

• Experience using or developing flow cytometry software (e.g., BD FACSDiva, FACSChorus, NovoExpress, FlowJo, Kaluza) is a strong plus.

• Familiarity with medical device software quality systems and regulatory requirements (IEC 62304, ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR Part 11) is a strong plus. Nice to Have

• Experience with BD FACSDiva, FACSChorus, FlowJo, NovoExpress, FlowJo, or Kaluza is a strong plus.

• Familiarity with medical device software quality systems and regulatory requirements (IEC 62304, ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR Part 11) is a strong plus.