Principal Mechanical Engineer

Synchron; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Synchron is seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer in San Diego, CA to lead the mechanical development of next-generation implantable medical devices. You will own overmolding, encapsulation, and miniature mechanical systems, guiding concepts from early prototypes through design verification and manufacturing readiness.

The role requires hands-on leadership, strong fundamentals in mechanics and materials, and collaboration with cross-functional teams to address complex packaging and reliability

Qualifications

• Medical-device development experience in regulated environments.
• Experience designing overmolded or encapsulated assemblies.
• Strong background in mechanical design, materials, and manufacturing integration.
• Ability to lead hands-on engineering and mentor others.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical development from concept through verification and transfer to manufacturing.
• Develop overmolding and encapsulation approaches for miniaturized assemblies.
• Design and prototype miniature mechanical systems and deployment mechanisms with tight tolerances.
• Evaluate materials for mechanical performance, manufacturability, biocompatibility, and long-term reliability.
• Create mechanical architectures integrating electronics and flexible components in small form factors.
• Use analysis, prototyping, and testing to drive design decisions and validate designs.

Skills

Mechanical design

Leadership

Prototyping

Cross-functional teamwork

Biocompatibility

Education

B.S. / M.S. in Mechanical Engineering or related

Tools

Overmolding

Encapsulation

Prototyping tools

Job description

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Principal Mechanical Engineer

Full Time San Diego, CA, US

3 days ago Requisition ID: 1047

Salary Range: $175,000.00 To $200,000.00 Annually

We are seeking a Principal Mechanical Engineer to help develop the next generation of Synchron’s implantable medical device technology. This is a highly hands-on technical leadership role focused on solving challenging mechanical design, materials, packaging, and manufacturing problems at the intersection of miniaturized electronics, polymers, and medical devices.

You will lead the development of novel approaches to overmolding, encapsulation, mechanical packaging, and miniature mechanical systems, taking concepts from early prototypes through design verification and manufacturing readiness. The work requires creativity, strong engineering fundamentals, and a willingness to explore solutions beyond traditional medical-device design approaches.

This is an opportunity to work on technology where mechanical engineering decisions directly enable entirely new device capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead mechanical development of next-generation medical device components and assemblies from concept through verification and transfer to manufacturing.
• Develop innovative overmolding and encapsulation approaches for miniaturized electronic and electromechanical assemblies.
• Design and prototype miniature mechanical systems and deployment mechanisms with challenging dimensional, material, and reliability requirements.
• Evaluate polymers, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, and other materials for mechanical performance, manufacturability, biocompatibility, and long-term reliability.
• Develop mechanical architectures that integrate electronics, flexible components, interconnects, and structural elements within highly constrained form factors.
• Use analytical methods, simulation, prototyping, and benchtop testing to characterize mechanical performance and guide design decisions.
• Identify potential failure modes and drive design improvements through testing, root-cause analysis, and design iteration.
• Partner closely with electrical, microfabrication, systems, manufacturing, quality, and clinical teams.
• Work with external suppliers and manufacturing partners to develop specialized materials, tooling, molding, and fabrication processes.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship while remaining deeply involved in hands-on engineering and prototyping.
• Develop solutions consistent with medical-device design controls, risk management, verification, and manufacturing requirements.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Significant industry experience developing complex mechanical systems, with experience operating at a Principal, Staff, or equivalent technical leadership level.
• Medical device development experience is required, including experience working within a regulated product-development environment.
• Demonstrated experience designing and developing overmolded, encapsulated, polymer-based, or highly integrated mechanical assemblies.
• Strong understanding of mechanical design, material selection, tolerance analysis, prototyping, and design for manufacturing.
• Experience developing small, mechanically complex systems where packaging, materials, and manufacturing processes are tightly coupled.
• Strong experimental mindset with demonstrated ability to rapidly prototype, test, learn, and iterate.
• Ability to independently tackle ambiguous technical problems and develop novel solutions rather than relying solely on established approaches.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively across highly multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Nice to Have

• Experience developing implantable medical devices or other devices requiring long-term interaction with the body.
• Experience with implantable-grade polymers, elastomers, adhesives, coatings, or encapsulation systems.
• Experience with micro-mechanical systems, deployment mechanisms, flexible assemblies, catheters, leads, or other highly constrained medical-device architectures.
• Knowledge of accelerated aging, mechanical reliability, hermeticity or moisture-ingress considerations, and long-term material performance.
• Experience developing manufacturing processes involving molding, precision assembly, laser processing, bonding, or other specialized fabrication techniques.