When joining PerkinElmer, you select an experienced and trusted leader in scientific solutions, with the support of a global service network and distribution centers, providing the right solution, at the right time, to meet critical customer needs. With over an 80+ year legacy of advancing science and a mission of innovating for a healthier world, our dedicated team collaborates closely with commercial, government, academic and healthcare customers to deliver our broad portfolio of analytical solutions, and OneSource services.
Job Title
Software Product Manager Material Characterization
Location(s)
High Wycombe, United Kingdom - Remote
Job Description
Purpose
PerkinElmer is seeking a Software Product Manager to own the software product roadmap for analytical instrument software aligned to an assigned product line.
Software is an increasingly critical competitive dimension in analytical instrumentation: instrument control software, data processing algorithms, connectivity, and reporting tools increasingly determine customer satisfaction, switching costs, and long-term loyalty. This role ensures that the product line's software strategy is as deliberate and commercially rigorous as its hardware strategy.
The Software Product Manager works at the intersection of product management and software engineering — translating commercial and customer requirements into well-defined software product specifications, prioritising the software backlog against commercial impact, and partnering with the R&D software team to ensure delivery meets market expectations. They are accountable for the software product, not the software development — they set what gets built and why, not how.
We are offering a hybrid working contract split between home and our offices in High Wycombe
Responsibilities
Software Product Strategy & Roadmap
Own the software product roadmap for the assigned product line — defining the vision, prioritising features and releases, and sequencing development work against commercial opportunity and customer value
Develop software product requirements: user stories, functional specifications, and acceptance criteria that R&D can act on — with clear priority rationale for each item
Make evidence-based trade-off decisions about software feature scope, release timing, and technical debt — balancing commercial urgency with software quality and architectural sustainability
Own the software product versioning and release strategy — coordinating release cadence with hardware product launches and sustaining release cycles
Customer & Market Requirements
Conduct structured VOC for software: customer interviews, usability feedback sessions, and competitive software benchmarking — generating a minimum of 15 documented customer conversations per year specifically focused on software needs
Monitor the competitive software landscape: competitor instrument software releases, third-party integration developments, and emerging customer expectations around connectivity, data management, and regulatory compliance
Partner with Strategic Segment Managers to understand how regulatory requirements (21 CFR Part 11, GAAMP, OECD GLP) affect software product needs in priority end markets
Translate hardware NPI requirements into software specification — ensuring instrument control software is developed in parallel with the hardware programme and available at launch
R&D Partnership & Delivery
Serve as the primary product management interface to the software R&D team — attending sprint reviews, backlog grooming sessions, and software programme milestones
Maintain a clearly prioritised software backlog — updated regularly, visible to stakeholders, and reflective of current commercial priorities
Own software release acceptance: define and execute user acceptance testing criteria, certify that software releases meet the defined product requirements before commercial release
Coordinate beta customer programmes for major software releases — managing site selection,…