Johnson & Johnson · 2 days ago
Senior Principal Design Engineer, R&D - MedTech Surgery
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$137K/yr - $236K/yr
12+ years expJohnson & Johnson is a leader in healthcare innovation, committed to developing advanced surgical technologies. The Senior Principal Design Engineer will lead R&D teams in designing and prototyping next-generation handheld surgical instruments, ensuring technical feasibility and innovation in patient care.
Hospital & Health Care
Responsibilities
Provide technical leadership and oversight to product design teams across brainstorming, concept development, design, simulation, analysis, prototyping, testing, debugging, and root cause analysis of mechanical and electromechanical products to demonstrate technical feasibility for next generation handheld surgical instruments
Leading and developing a team of Engineers across multiple levels through effective mentorship, coaching, regular one‑on‑one discussions, and candid, constructive feedback
Partner with Project Heads and Project Managers to provide technical inputs to support project planning, budgeting, risk management, performance metrics, scorecards, and project communications with internal and external stakeholders, including senior leadership
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teammates, cross-functional partners, internal stakeholders, external partners, and external customers to build the evidence required to advance projects through the Business Stage Gate process
Lead product design teams to translate high-level customer needs into technical options while analyzing trade-offs and business impact
Protect the intellectual property position of the Innovation portfolio by leading IP-related activities and facilitating contractual agreements resulting from external stakeholder engagements
Lead the product design team in establishing effective working practices including the documentation of findings, recommendations, theories of operation, technical reviews, and engineering studies
Qualification
Required
Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or similar field required; Dual Degrees or Advanced Degree strongly preferred
Minimum 12+ years of relevant work experience in a direct product design engineering role
Proven experience leading product design teams to deliver R&D goals and milestones
Proven experience applying core engineering principles and design methodologies throughout product development including activities such as ideation, concept generation, detailed design, breadboarding and prototyping, DFM/A, FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis), tolerance stack-ups, and statistical analysis
Demonstrated proficiency in 3D modeling packages (NX or SolidWorks), FEA packages (SolidWorks or Abaqus), and other analysis tools (i.e. Enventive) to design, simulate, and analyze designs
Experience translating high-level customer requirements into technical concepts and analyzing the tradeoffs and business impact
Demonstrated ability to debug, root cause, and test mechanical or electromechanical sub-systems using Instrons, CMMs, etc
Experience in design or development of plastics, metals, and electromechanical components
Experience in material selection with design consideration
Ability to analyze test results and interpret data to deliver clear recommendations and define next steps
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders to support Front End activities through formal governance processes (e.g., Stage Gate)
Proactive and self-motivated, able to work with limited supervision
Adaptable to shifting priorities and a rapid product development pace
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Demonstrated ability working across subject areas with internal and external partners
Passion for innovation, strong collaboration, proven technical leadership capabilities, and conflict resolution skills
Experience mentoring, coaching, and training junior engineering team members
Preferred
Experience in an early-stage, front-end, or innovative environment
Prior experience managing direct reports
Experience formulating and coordinating different engineering approaches to test hypotheses, such as hand calculations, computational modeling and simulation, empirical testing (benchtop and in vivo) and method development as appropriate
Work experience with and a deep understanding of physical principles and ability to plan, execute, and synthesize analyses across multiple domains, such as mechanical, thermal, and electrical
Understanding of anatomy and physiology, surgery, surgical procedures, and the application of surgical devices
Design control experience
Experience in a medical device industry or other regulated environment
Benefits
Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees are eligible to participate in the Company’s consolidated retirement plan (pension) and savings plan (401(k)).
Vacation –120 hours per calendar year
Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Colorado –48 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year
Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year
Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year
Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child
Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year
Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period10 days
Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year
Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year
Company
Johnson & Johnson
At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Johnson & Johnson has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (48)
2024 (56)
2023 (58)
2022 (59)
2021 (44)
2020 (27)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
Alex Gorsky
Former Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson
Joaquin Duato
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Recent News
2025-10-07
2025-10-07
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