Senior R&D Project Manager - Navigation Robotics

Brighter Signals; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 201,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation 120h

Sick leave 40h

Holiday pay 13 days

Parental Leave 480h

Bereavement Leave 240h

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson is seeking a Principal R&D Project Manager for its Orthopaedics Navigation Platform. The role is based in Boston, MA and Gières, France, and involves planning, budgeting, and cross-functional leadership across software, systems, V&V, clinical, quality, and regulatory teams.

The candidate will drive phase-gate readiness and disciplined design controls, deliver integrated master schedules, and manage RAID. Strong stakeholder communication and Agile/SAFe experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Life Sciences, or related field.
• 5+ years of project management experience within regulated class II and product development environments (medical device, robotics, navigation, or software-enabled products preferred).
• Experience with phase-gate execution and design controls documentation in a QMS environment. Deep understanding of regulated medical device product development and phase-gate execution, including FDA 21 CFR 820.30 / ISO 13485 design controls.
• Experience managing complex, cross-functional programs across software, systems, and hardware, including integrated planning across requirements, architecture, V&V, clinical, quality, and regulatory deliverables.
• Demonstrated technical problem-solving leadership
• Excellent knowledge of Agile, Lean, SAFe, or hybrid execution models.
• Strong project controls and financial acumen including budget baselining, forecasting, earned value management (EVM) concepts, and data-driven performance reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage integrated schedules (IMS/WBS), critical path, and dependency mapping across cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency with project management tooling (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Planisware/Cadence PPM, Jira/Azure DevOps) and documentation practices.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; ability to produce clear dashboards, executive updates, and decision briefs.
• Experience operating in Agile/SAFe or hybrid delivery models; ability to drive project resource and schedule planning
• Strong in RAID management and structured escalation; ability to drive mitigation actions and decisions to closure.
• Strong in project controls including budget baselining, forecasting, and earned value management (EVM) concepts.

Responsibilities

• Own project planning and baseline management for Navigation projects, including charters, scope baseline, WBS, and IMS.
• Manage schedule execution, critical path tracking, milestone readiness, and weekly status to leadership.
• Own budget baseline, track actuals/forecasts, and perform EVM tracking; support reviews and funding decisions.
• Maintain RAID log with proactive mitigation; escalate risks and decisions across platforms.
• Lead weekly core team meetings; drive action tracking and follow-through.
• Drive design controls and DDP execution; ensure evidence packages meet regulatory/quality expectations.
• Plan phase-gate readiness activities and toll-gate submissions (regulatory readiness, risk status).
• Manage change requests and ensure governance-compliant documentation.
• Drive resource planning with functional leaders; resolve conflicts and mitigation plans.
• Support hybrid execution cadence (Agile sprints + hardware work) with Scrum Master and leads.
• Coordinate vendor/contractor deliverables and procurement tracking; ensure alignment with schedule/quality.
• Execute assigned projects and provide data-driven recommendations.
• Lead closure activities including lessons learned and transition to operations.
• Provide dashboards and stakeholder updates; manage escalations through closure.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/CS/Life Sciences

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Planisware/Cadence PPM

Jira/Azure DevOps

Job description

Johnson & Johnson is seeking a Principal R&D Project Manager for its Orthopaedics Navigation Platform. The role is based in Boston, MA and Gières, France, and involves planning, budgeting, and cross-functional leadership across software, systems, V&V, clinical, quality, and regulatory teams.

The candidate will drive phase-gate readiness and disciplined design controls, deliver integrated master schedules, and manage RAID. Strong stakeholder communication and Agile/SAFe experience are essential.