**QORE ** Innovation Team , Company Software Division

C O N F I D E N T I A L

INNOVATION TEAM , Company

Software Engineer

Product Ownership & Development

Issued: April 2026

Full ownership of a product as an outcome, not a task list. The ability to hold both the technical specification and the user’s underlying need simultaneously, and to exercise sound judgment when the two are in conflict.

ROLE OVERVIEW

This role carries full ownership of one product from end to end. The incumbent is responsible not only for writing and maintaining the codebase, but for understanding the problem the product is designed to solve, flagging when a requirement does not serve the user, and making sound implementation trade-offs under real constraints. Other engineers will contribute to the product. Accountability for its quality, reliability, and direction rests with this role. The incumbent is expected to define the technical architecture, maintain test coverage, coordinate with the embedded and hardware teams, and report clearly on product status , without requiring decisions to be made above them.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Full-stack ownership of one product: backend services, API layer, and front-end where applicable, with accountability for production behaviour across all layers.
• Requirement translation: working with stakeholders to convert needs into buildable specifications, and raising objections when a requirement does not serve the user or is technically unsound.
• Architecture ownership: defining the technical architecture of the product, documenting design decisions and their trade-offs in a form accessible to the wider team.
• Development with coverage: writing clean, maintainable code where no feature is considered complete without accompanying tests and documentation.
• Cross-team integration: coordinating with embedded engineers to ensure software-firmware interface specifications are clearly defined, agreed, and tested.
• Performance and reliability ownership: maintaining accountability for uptime, latency, and error rates as measured outcomes, not incidental concerns.
• Continuous improvement: conducting ongoing self-review of the codebase, proactively refactoring ahead of debt accumulation, and contributing to team standards.
• Weekly product reporting: producing a concise, accurate status note covering current state, two-week forward plan, and active risks , without prompting.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

• Demonstrated product ownership: prior roles in which the individual held accountability for a full product or feature set, not only assigned tasks.
• Portfolio of shipped software in production , not prototypes, academic projects, or work that was not deployed to real users.
• Consistent record of meeting stated commitments: if a deadline is given, it is met, or the team is informed in advance with a specific revised date.
• Ability to size tasks accurately and communicate uncertainty honestly.
• Sound architectural judgment: decisions that are proportionate to the problem and do not introduce unnecessary complexity.
• Cross-functional communication: evidence of effective collaboration with non-software stakeholders including hardware and embedded engineering teams.

SCREENING CRITERIA

• Definition of ‘done’ that ends at code merge rather than confirmed production behaviour.
• No independently initiated work in the portfolio , all projects assigned, not self-directed.
• Consistent pattern of deferring architectural decisions upward rather than arriving with a recommended approach.
• Portfolio composed entirely of coursework, tutorials, or cloned repositories with no original implementation.
• Vague or inconsistent descriptions of prior outcomes , unable to quantify impact or speak to specific technical decisions made.

CAREER TRAJECTORY

As the product matures and new products are initiated, the individual in this role becomes the standard against which software development practice is measured within the organisation. The person who ships one product with full ownership and clear accountability is the person trusted with a second. There is a direct path from this position to leading a small product engineering pod, with responsibility for team output as well as individual contribution.

FIRST WEEK DELIVERABLES

• Complete review of the product codebase. Produce a written architecture summary in plain language, documenting the overall structure, key dependencies, and any areas that ar…