Principal R&D Engineer: NPD for Cranial, Spinal Technologies

Job description

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 8 Sep 2026 Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first — developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year. Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact. A Day in the LifeAt Medtronic Neuroscience, we are redefining what's possible in neurological and spinal care, bringing together innovation, expertise, and partnership to improve lives around the world. At Medtronic CST, we bring together innovative technologies that empower surgeons and improve outcomes in complex spine and cranial procedures. Check us out on LinkedIn: Medtronic CST This position takes a leading role in design and development of new products and product improvements. Responsibilities will also include development, implementation and improvement of Quality Management System (QMS) procedures. Leads or supports project planning and project management. Provides engineering and technical support to other functional areas of the company as required. Primary Responsibilities:Technical leadership within cross-functional product development teams and help drive engineering decisions that align with customer needs, business objectives, product strategy, and system-level design goals. Lead the development of system architectures, interface definitions, functional decompositions, and technical specifications to enable successful product realization. Collaborate with Marketing, Clinical, Regulatory, Quality, Manufacturing, Service, R&D teams to translate stakeholder inputs into clear product requirements and technical solutions. Lead the synthesis of user needs, clinical needs, business requirements, regulatory requirements, and technical constraints into measurable and verifiable product, system, and subsystem requirements. Perform engineering analyses, technical trade studies, and feasibility assessments to evaluate alternative concepts and optimize product performance, usability, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Develop, maintain, and communicate requirements traceability from user needs through design inputs, verification activities, risk controls, and design outputs. Develop and test prototypes, evaluate system performance, and troubleshoot complex technical and integration issues across hardware, software, firmware, disposables, accessories, and manufacturing processes. Analyze engineering and test data to determine whether product designs satisfy functional, performance, reliability, and safety requirements and recommend design improvements when necessary. Support updates and improvements to QMS procedures. Evaluate the impact of external standard changes on products and their DHFs. Lead or support risk management activities including hazard analyses, Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (FMEA), risk assessments, and implementation of risk control strategies throughout the product lifecycle. Provide test reports, drawings, and other requirements to RA necessary for preparing regulatory notifications and submissions 510(k)s and PMAs for domestic and international approvals as required. Define realistic start and finish dates for project-critical action items, submit them to the project team leader, and update the project schedule as needed. Serve as a technical leader with a broad range of duties including determining resource needs, availability or limitations, in advance of issues, to minimize schedule deviations. Identify areas for improvement of manufacturing and lab tooling and technical processes in all project phases and recommend changes to appropriate management. Provides production line support when required. Provide technical training for appropriate Lab and Production personnel as appropriate. Provides process and systems training to other functional areas as necessary. Review appropriate technical literature for necessary background on specific assignments. Perform all activities in compliance with the Quality System. Perform duties in compliance with environmental, health and safety related site rules, policies or government regulations. Mentor and coach junior engineers in technical, soft skills and advise on projects. Required Qualifications:Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering 7+ years technically related experience and bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline OR 5+ years technically related related experience AND an advanced degree. Preferred Qualifications:Experience with motor control theory and implementation, power management, sensors and instrumentation, IEC-60601 standards. Experience with data acquisition and statistical analysis software Experience planning and implementing projects from concept to completion. Experience with design of mechanical and/or electromechanical devices. Experience with manufacture of components for prototypes or production. Experience developing test methods, test execution and report writing. Experienced in QMS procedures, regulations and standards. Experience with Risk Management Experience with computer software: MS Office, ProEngineer, etc. Demonstrated understanding and application of statistical methods/techniques Experience with material selection. Familiar with working in an ISO 13485 and FDA regulated environment Experience with tolerance analysis, GD&T For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required. Physical Job Requirements The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position. The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role. U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Principal-level roles and above, where specialized expertise aligns with long-term business needs. Roles below the Principal level require candidates to possess unrestricted U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and for the duration of employment. ‌ Recruitment Fraud Alert We are aware of phishing scams targeting job seekers. Please keep the following in mind: Apply only through official Medtronic channels. All legitimate Medtronic recruiting communications come from approved Medtronic platforms and official @medtronic.com email addresses. Medtronic will never ask for payment or sensitive personal information (such as bank account or Social Security details) during early stages of the hiring process. Any such requests are not legitimate. If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Medtronic, do not respond, click links, or open attachments. If you have any questions, concerns regarding the authenticity of a co