Senior Project Manager, R&D

Job description

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world.  We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual.  At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit. Job Function: Project/Program Management Group Job Sub Function: R&D Project Management Job Category: Professional All Job Posting Locations: West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States of America Job Description: We are searching for the best talent for a Senior Project Manager, R&D, to join our Orthopaedics team. This is a hybrid role located in West Chester, PA. Purpose: As a Senior Project Manager at DePuy Synthes, you will specialize in new product development processes and will be responsible for all project management aspects of a project. You will be responsible for leading complex, cross-functional new product development projects from initiation through product launch. This role owns the integrated project plan and drives execution across R&D/Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing/Operations, Supply Chain, Clinical, Marketing, and other business functions. This is a hands-on project leadership role requiring strong cross-functional leadership, project planning, risk management, problem-solving, and communication skills. The Senior Project Manager is responsible for proactively identifying risks and dependencies, facilitating key decisions, driving accountability, and providing clear project updates to both project teams and leadership. The role is primarily focused on the Trauma business, leading the development of orthopedic medical devices, including implants, instruments, and related hardware and software solutions. This includes supporting the integration of Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) capabilities into orthopedic product development programs. The successful candidate will possess a strong understanding of the medical device development lifecycle, enabling them to connect technical and business objectives, assess the project impact of technical decisions, and translate complex cross-functional activities into clear, executable project plans that drive successful product development and commercialization Key Responsibilities: Integrate hardware, software, systems, and cross-functional development activities into the overall project plan, ensuring dependencies, verification & validation activities, regulatory deliverables, and product launch requirements are appropriately planned and managed. Lead complex, cross-functional new product development projects through multiple phases of the product development lifecycle. Own and maintain the integrated project plan, including milestones, dependencies, critical path, resources, risks, and key deliverables. Drive execution against project scope, schedule, budget, resource, and business commitments. Lead cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment, establishing clear ownership, accountability, priorities, and timing. Proactively identify project risks, issues, schedule impacts, resource constraints, and dependencies and lead development of mitigation or recovery plans. Integrate activities across R&D/Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing/Operations, Supply Chain, Clinical, Marketing, and other functions. Ensure project plans incorporate applicable design control, risk management, verification and validation, regulatory, manufacturing readiness, design transfer, and launch activities. Facilitate cross-functional alignment, trade-off discussions, decision-making, and issue resolution. Establish effective project governance and maintain appropriate project documentation. Provide clear, concise project updates to project teams and leadership, including overall project health, milestone performance, critical-path status, risks, issues, decisions, and required actions. Escalate significant project risks and issues with clear assessment of potential impact and recommended actions. Ensure compliance with applicable company policies, procedures, quality requirements, and regulatory requirements. Performs other duties assigned as needed. Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science, Business, or related discipline. 4–6+ years of progressively responsible project or program management experience, including experience with complex product development projects. Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams in a regulated product development environment. Demonstrated experience of building, owning, and driving integrated project schedules with cross-functional dependencies, milestones, and critical-path activities. Experience leading projects through multiple phases of the product development lifecycle. Strong project risk, issue, dependency, and schedule management capabilities. Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization without direct authority. Strong written, verbal, presentation, and leadership communication skills. Ability to understand technical information and translate it into project implications, risks, dependencies, and actions. Preferred Qualifications Advanced technical or business degree. PMP Certification, or willingness to achieve Experience leading new product development programs involving Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), connected medical devices, or software-enabled medical device products preferred. Medical device industry experience is strongly preferred. Orthopedic medical device experience, particularly Trauma, implants, fixation systems, surgical instruments, or related hardware products, strongly preferred. Experience with medical device design controls and structured new product development processes. Experience leading products through verification and validation, design transfer, manufacturing readiness, and commercial launch. Experience with globally distributed project teams. About Orthopaedics: Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology, we’re developing the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatments. Are you passionate about improving and expanding the possibilities of Orthopaedics? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Orthopaedics teams help keep more than 6 million people moving each year while delivering clinical and economic value to surgeons and healthcare systems. Our teams build solutions for joint reconstruction; trauma and craniomaxillofacial; sports, extremities, and elective foot and ankle; spine; and robotics and digital surgery. Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/medtech Johnson & Johnson announced plans to separate our Orthopaedics business to establish a standalone orthopaedics company, operating as DePuy Synthes. The process of the planned separation is anticipated to be completed within 18 to 24 months, subject to legal requirements, including consultation with works councils and other employee representative bodies, as may be required, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and approvals. Should you accept this position, it is anticipated that, following conclusion of the transaction, you would be an employee of DePuy Synthes and your employment would be governed by DePuy Synthes employment processes, programs, policies, and benefit plans. In that case, de