Principal Process Engineer, Advanced Manufacturing Technical Lead

Job description

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 23 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 LifePrincipal Process Engineer in AME organization. As a Principal Process Engineer on Medtronic’s Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (AME) team, you will combine broad, hands-on engineering experience with strong technical leadership to support the development, commercialization, and scale-up of life-saving medical technologies. In this role, you will apply a well-rounded background across manufacturing processes, equipment, materials, process development, validation, and continuous improvement to solve complex challenges and guide engineering decisions. You will connect product requirements with practical manufacturing solutions, supporting programs from early development through production. You will also help strengthen the team’s technical capabilities by mentoring engineers, coaching structured problem-solving, sharing knowledge, and guiding cross-functional teams. Success requires technical depth, the ability to work across engineering disciplines, and a collaborative leadership approach that builds confidence, accountability, and sound engineering judgment in others. At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges in a manufacturing environment are invaluable to our work. This role requires working onsite a minimum of five days per week to support professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary. Responsibilities: Provide hands-on technical leadership across process development, equipment selection and integration, process characterization, validation, technology transfer, and manufacturing optimization. Apply broad engineering knowledge to evaluate how materials, equipment, tooling, process parameters, and product design interact to influence manufacturing performance. Lead complex engineering initiatives from concept through implementation, balancing product requirements, quality, manufacturability, scalability, cost, and project timelines. Partner with R&D, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Regulatory Affairs, and external partners to resolve technical challenges and support successful new product introductions and ongoing manufacturing. Evaluate manufacturing approaches and emerging technologies, including automation and digital manufacturing capabilities, and recommend solutions appropriate to the application. Lead process characterization and establish effective process controls using Design of Experiments (DOE), Statistical Process Control (SPC), capability analysis, and data-driven decision-making. Guide process risk assessments, validation strategies, and execution of IQ/OQ/PQ activities in accordance with applicable quality system and regulatory requirements. Lead investigations into complex manufacturing issues, working directly with teams to identify root causes, evaluate solutions, and implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions. Mentor and coach engineers across experience levels, helping them strengthen technical skills, troubleshooting approaches, engineering judgment, and project ownership. Review engineering studies, technical documentation, and proposed solutions; provide constructive feedback and help teams understand the reasoning behind technical decisions. Foster a collaborative environment where engineers ask questions, share knowledge, challenge assumptions respectfully, and learn from project outcomes. Lead through influence by aligning cross-functional teams on technical priorities, communicating tradeoffs clearly, and guiding decisions when requirements or solutions are uncertain. Contribute to manufacturing technology roadmaps, capital planning, equipment selection, and expansion strategies, while sharing lessons learned and best practices across teams and sites. Must Have: Minimum Requirements Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience. OR Advanced degree with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience. Nice to Have: Preferred Qualifications Broad, hands-on engineering experience spanning multiple areas of manufacturing, such as process development, equipment and tooling, materials processing, validation, production support, and continuous improvement. Experience in medical device, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other highly regulated manufacturing environments. Demonstrated ability to work across multiple manufacturing technologies and apply engineering fundamentals to unfamiliar processes or technical challenges. Experience with plastics processing, including injection molding or extrusion, complex assembly processes, automation, robotics, or equipment integration. Experience supporting products through multiple lifecycle stages, from development and commercialization to manufacturing scale-up and ongoing process optimization. Demonstrated technical leadership through mentoring, coaching, knowledge sharing, and guiding engineers through complex projects and problem-solving activities. Ability to provide actionable technical feedback, adapt coaching to different experience levels, and support the development of independent engineering judgment. Experience leading cross-functional technical initiatives and building alignment across teams, sites, and organizational levels. Strong working knowledge of process validation, risk management methods such as FMEA, statistical analysis, DOE, SPC, and process capability. Demonstrated success resolving complex manufacturing problems through hands-on investigation, structured analysis, and sustainable solutions. Design, Reliability, and Manufacturability (DRM) Green belt or Black belt certification or equivalent experience. Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts, recommendations, and tradeoffs to engineering teams, operational partners, and senior leadership. 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 al