Senior DevOps Engineer - Desktop Platforms & Release Engineering

Senior DevOps Engineer - Desktop Platforms & Release Engineering 📍 Location: Mechelen, Belgium

🧭 Function: R&D - Clinical & Research Platforms

👥 Role Type: Senior Individual Contributor

🌍 Scope: Global, multi-site About Cochlear At Cochlear, we create technology that helps people hear and be heard. Our implantable hearing solutions are used by millions of people worldwide, restoring access to sound, speech, and connection. Behind every implant is a suite of mission-critical clinical software used daily by audiologists across the globe.

These desktop applications program devices, diagnose behaviour, ensure safety, and optimise outcomes for patients of all ages. When this software works well, lives change. When it doesn't, the consequences are real.

Position Overview / Purpose We're looking for a Senior DevOps Engineer to take full ownership of how we build, test, sign, package, and release our regulated Windows desktop software used in clinical environments worldwide. This is not cloud-native or SaaS DevOps. You will work on installed, offline-capable, hardware-integrated Windows applications that must be deterministic, secure, and audit-ready. Reliability directly impacts clinicians and patients - this work matters.

What You Will Lead

As our senior technical specialist for DevOps CI/CD Platforms & Release Engineering, you will design and govern the full end-to-end engineering workflow: 1.

Reproducible Windows Build Environments

You define and enforce deterministic, containerised build systems using:

Docker for Windows

Pinned toolchains (MSVC, CMake, Qt, .NET)

Packages management (NuGet, Conan/vcpkg, internal artifact feeds) 2. CI/CD Architecture & Automation You design reliable, scalable pipelines for complex .NET/C++ desktop applications:

GitLab CI, TeamCity, Jenkins

Modular, traceable build/test/release workflows

Automated artifact promotion and audit trails 3. Hardware-Integrated CI You build automation that interacts with real hardware, including:

USB/BLE device communication

Firmware interaction & validation

Hardware-in-the-loop integration tests

Controlled test rigs & measurement pipelines 4. Verification, Security & Compliance Automation You ensure software quality and regulatory compliancy through:

Unit, integration & UI test automation

TestComplete and custom frameworks

SBOM generation, supply-chain security, CVE monitoring

Static analysis & dependency scanning 5.

Release Engineering Ownership

You run the full release lifecycle:

Versioning & branching strategy

Code signing & certificate management

Installer creation (MSIX, WiX, custom pipelines)

Secure distribution & release documentation

Full traceability from commit → clinical release 6.

Platform Governance

You define and enforce the standards that engineering teams must follow:

CI/CD rules

Build reproducibility

Dependency governance

Release quality gates Who We're Looking For

BSc or MSc in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience

5+ years in DevOps, Platform Engineering, Build/Release Engineering, Software Configuration Management for complex systems using tools like Jenkins, Teamcity or Gitlab CI

Expert in Windows build ecosystems (.NET, CMake, MSBuild, MSVC, Qt)

Experience with containerised Windows builds (Docker)

Hands-on experience integrating hardware into CI automation

Confidence working in regulated, safety-critical software environments A senior engineer who can influence, set standards, and drive cross-team alignment Why Join Us

Senior specialist without people management

Direct influence on how critical clinical software is built and delivered globally

Work across Europe & Australia with teams solving meaningful, high-impact engineering challenges

Shape the next decade of DevOps and release engineering for clinical desktop software