Principal R&D Engineer

jj; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 201,000; Full time

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson MedTech Electrophysiology recruiting a Principal Engineer to advance catheter development in the R&D ULS Team in Irvine, CA. You will drive projects from concept to commercial, validate designs, and mentor junior engineers while collaborating with internal and external partners.

You will contribute to clinically relevant devices, support process improvements, and enable rapid experimentation within an agile R&D environment, shaping future medical technology and patient impact.

Qualifications

• Minimum 8+ years in medical device R&D.
• Experience leading projects from concept to prototype.
• Strong skills in design validation and manufacturing support.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects from concept to prototype and commercialization.
• Mentor junior engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Develop prototypes and validation protocols for regulatory readiness.

Skills

Project leadership

Medical device R&D

Mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Design validation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

Validation methodologies

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:

R&D Product Development

Job Sub Function:

R&D Software/Systems Engineering

Job Category:

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Irvine, California, United States of America

Job Description:

Johnson & Johnson MedTech Electrophysiology is recruiting for a Principal Engineer to support the Electrophysiology (EP) business unit based in Irvine, CA.

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 https://www.jnj.com/.

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 Cardiovascular? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Cardiovascular team develops leading solutions for heart recovery, electrophysiology, and stroke. You will join a proud heritage of continually elevating standards of care for stroke, heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/medtech.

Summary:

The Principal Engineer plays a critical role in advancing catheter development within the R&D ULS Team by driving projects from concept to commercial, validating designs, and enabling reliable transitioning toward development and early production. This role emphasizes hands‑on technical leadership, rapid problem solving, and mentorship of junior engineers, with regular collaboration across internal and external research partners.

The Principal Engineer contributes to the R&D team to deliver clinically relevant devices while supporting process improvements and knowledge transfer to commercial.

This position offers the opportunity to shape the future of medical devices by supporting high-risk, high-reward innovations that align with our long-term strategic goals of market leadership and patient impact. The Principal Engineer will operate within the R&D organization agility, fostering a culture of rapid experimentation, iterative development, and scientific excellence.

Duties & Responsibilities:

In accordance với all applicable federal, state and local laws/regulations and Corporate Johnson & Johnson, procedures and guidelines, this position:

• Leading expert individual contributor who is viewed as a valuable resource by peers in a scientific/technology field. Consults on critical methods and research to achieve operational, functional, and/or business targets with measurable impact on department results. Masters knowledge and skills of engineering methods, and serves as a valuable resource to peers. Manages major complex projects of strategic importance, involving cross‑functional teams.
• Works to achieve operational, functional, and/or business targets with measurable impact on R&D Software / Systems Engineering results.
• Updates, repairs, modifies, and develops existing software and generic applications.
• Utilizes scripts/services to scale and deploy code.
• Generates technical reports, technical memoranda, and other documents for internal and external distribution.
• Presents findings and provides updates on project status to senior management.
• Guides junior colleagues through consultation and mentoring in techniques and processes and provides functional (matrix) supervision.
• Integrates Johnson & Johnson’s Credo and Leadership Imperatives into team goals and decision making.

Technology & Project Ownership:

• Under limited supervision, lead projects from initial concept through commercialization, ensuring alignment with clinical needs and regulatory pathways.
• Drive technical decisions, manage milestones, and de‑risk designs to enable development and manufacturing activities.

Prototype Development & Validation:

• Architect the creation of innovative prototypes, tools, and fixtures for pre‑clinical testing. Design and implement robust validation protocols, ensuring safety, regulatory readiness, and manufacturability criteria.
• Design and implement robust validation protocols, ensuring safety, regulatory readiness, and manufacturability criteria.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with internal and external partners to facilitate efficient technology transfer on assigned workstreams.

Knowledge Transfer & Process Support:

• Support knowledge transfer from incubation to development, including guidance on process characterization, risk assessments, and basic process validation activities.

Regulatory & Documentation Support:

• Contribute to the preparation of technical documentation, design controls, and validation records to support regulatory submissions and First‑In‑Human activities as needed.

Market & Technology Trend Awareness:

• Stay informed about trends in electrophysiology, electromagnetically navigated devices, flexible materials, and miniaturized electronics. Translate insights into practical project goals and prototype concepts to maintain competitive advantage.

Innovative Culture & Continuous Improvement:

• Foster an entrepreneurial, collaborative environment with a focus on rapid prototyping, iterative testing, and disciplined execution. Contribute to ongoing process improvements and partnerships to accelerate innovative success and technology progression.

Experience & Education:

Educational Background:

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Master’s preferred, with a focus on medical device development, materials science, or related fields.

Experience:

Minimum of 8+ years in medical device R&D, with experience early prototyping an advantage. Demonstrated ability to lead projects from concept to prototype, with initial validation and support for early clinical use.

Technical Mastery:

Expertise in miniaturization, and advanced manufacturing techniques. Proficiency in prototyping tools (SolidWorks, AutoCAD); familiarity with validation methodologies and process excellence tools.

Desirable:

familiarity with electromagnetically navigated devices, advanced materials, and flexible electronics.

Leadership & Collaboration:

Ability to work independently and with minimal supervision; capable of mentoring junior engineers. Strong collaboration across multidisciplinary teams and external partners. Ability to translate complex scientific concepts into practical, market‑ready solutions and interpret technological trends to inform project goals.

Communication:

Excellent verbal and written communication skills; experienced in presenting to project teams, regulatory bodies, and external partners.

Additional Skills:

• Experience with electromagnetically navigated devices considered an advantage
• Expertise in design validation, process development.
• Knowledge of manufacturing technologies.
• familiarity with DTV/DTQ a plus.
• Strong problem‑solving, analytical reasoning, and decision‑making skills.
• ability to operate effectively in a fast‑paced, innovative environment.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in electromagnetically navigated devices and advanced catheter materials.
• Proficiency in design validation, process development, and regulatory compliance activities at a mid‑to‑senior level.
• Proficient in drafting software systems such as AutoCAD and SolidWorks; familiarity with statistical software (e.g., Minitab).
• Strong problem‑solving, analytical reasoning, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Ability to operate independently within a fast‑paced, innovative environment.
• Knowledge of manufacturing technologies; experience with DTV/DTQ is advantageous.
• Strong English communication skills, written and oral.
• Business/financial acumen; ability to interpret project economics and resource constraints.
• Good interpersonal skills
• Ability to prioritize requests and switch between tasks efficiently.

Other:

• Primary location of position – Irvine, CA.
• This is an on-site (5 days a week) position
• An estimate of travel up to 15% may be required both domestic and international

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers or contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Coaching, Critical Thinking, Innovation, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Organizing, Project Management, Report Writing, Requirements Analysis, Research and Development, Researching, SAP Product Lifecycle Management, Scripting Languages, Software Acquisitions, Software Development Management, Software Engineering Practices, Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Technologically Savvy, Training People

The anticipated base pay range for this position is :

$117,000.00 - $201,250.00

Additional Description for Pay Transparency:

• 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

For additional general information on Company benefits, please go to: https://www.careers.jnj.com/employee-benefits