We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 28 Feb 2026
At Medtronic you can begin a life-long career of exploration and innovation, while helping champion healthcare access and equity for all. You’ll lead with purpose, breaking down barriers to innovation in a more connected, compassionate world.
A Day in the Life
Careers that Change Lives
Impact patient outcomes. Come for a job, stay for a career.
As a Senior R&D Engineer, you will develop life-saving medical device products for spine surgery. Key responsibilities include collaborating with a team to lead new product development; developing and designing implants, instruments, and systems; conducting product and use testing; and managing system interfaces. You will actively seek out Voice of the Customer (VOC) input and translate that into product requirements, design specifications, and mechanical concepts. You will work under general direction and may serve as a key functional core team member or as an engineer on an extended team. The product focus will be on spinal implants and instrumentation to treat degenerative, deformity, and tumor/trauma conditions.
A career at Medtronic is like no other. We’re purposeful. We’re committed. And we’re driven by our Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life for millions of people worldwide. We seek out and hire a diverse workforce at every level: We need fresh ideas and inclusive insights to continue to be an innovative industry leader — that’s why we make it a point to seek out, attract, and develop employees who are patient-centric, passionate, and who represent the same wide variety of life experiences as our patients.
At Medtronic, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person exchanges are invaluable to our work. We’re working a minimum of 4 days a week onsite as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary.
Day in the life:
Plans and implements all aspects of multiple simultaneous designs and the development of new medical device products from initial design through market release, in accordance with agreed project timelines and NPI Development processes.
Defines medium to high complexity spinal systems and conceptualizes designs that meet the needs and uses of the customer, regulatory agencies, and the business
Provides technical leadership in defining, evaluating, and mitigating system design risks. This includes understanding system interfaces, use cases, and conditions; investigating and resolving system and design issues; making improvements to address customer feedback and requests; and leading testing activities.
Engages with customers (internal and external) to understand and prioritize their needs and apply feedback to improve designs
Translates customer needs into stakeholder and system requirements
Optimizes designs by designing and conducting relevant tests, experiments, and evaluations, including numerical verification
Defines and performs verification and validation activities, ensuring products meet user needs, system requirements, and intended use
Writes engineering reports and creates presentations as required to document and communicate results
Contributes and builds domain knowledge around spinal systems, their clinical use and application via customer and field visits, pre-clinical in vivo labs, literature searches, and training
Documents tradeoffs, rationales, and potential solutions
Supports documentation throughout all phases of research and development
Participate with outside suppliers and consultants to ensure timely delivery.
Investigates and evaluates existing technologies
Contributes inventions, new designs, and techniques regarded as advances in the medical and technical/scientific community
Provides training and mentorship to less experienced team members and learn from more experienced team members
Maintains training and ensures personal understanding of all quality policy/system items that are applicable. Follow all work/quality procedures to ensure compliance with the quality system and high-quality work.
Must Have: Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a technical-related degree – Mechanical Engineering preferred
4+ years of engineering design and development experience with 2+ years of medical device experience - in spine, trauma, orthopedics, or dental
Nice to Have:
An MS degree in engineering is preferred.
Clinical knowledge for the use of products
Knowledge of spinal anatomy relative to surgical procedures
Experience in the use of systems engineering methodologies, including requirements development, analysis, allocation, review, tracing, and verification/validation
Ability to effectively communicate and work collaboratively with others as a member of a team
In-depth knowledge and wide application of technical principles, theories, and concepts in the related field of expertise to develop innovative approaches to work
Knowledge of manufacturing processes, including machining and 3D printing
Understanding of the spinal medical device industry and competitor products. Working knowledge of other disciplines.
Proven proficiency with CREO, SolidWorks, or similar 3D CAD program
Mastery of engineering drawing standards, including GD&T and tolerance stacks
Demonstrated track record of successful designs of surgical instruments (Spinal instruments are a plus)
Knowledge of Agile and Windchill
Demonstrated ability to take initiative in keeping current with technology developments in a specialized area
Experience working in an FDA-regulated and/or medical device environment with ISO and Quality System Regulation requirements
Skills & Abilities:
Design and project execution agility in a fast-paced environment with a quality and customer service mindset, along with a sense of urgency and ownership
Creativity in design, documentation, and problem-solving, with speed as a priority
Capability to define and follow priorities with multiple simultaneous projects
Knowledge of surgical instruments use conditions and OR setup (Spine is a plus)
Strong collaborator in a cross-functional and multi-cultural team environment
Strong team player aiming to win as a team
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Experience training and mentoring less experienced engineers, a learning/listening mindset with more experienced team members.
Excellent written and communication skills
Travel Expectation: less than 10% - Travel domestically 1 to 2 days a month.
Location: Medtronic Spine Hubs: Memphis, TN or San Diego, CA
Physical Job Requirements
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position.
The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.
Benefits & Compensation
Medtronic offers a competitive Salary and flexible Benefits Package
A commitment to our employees lives at the core of our values. We recognize their contributions. They share in the success they help to create.We offer a wide range of benefits, resources, and competitive compensation plans designed to support you at every career and life stage.
Salary ranges for U.S (excl. PR) locations (USD):$104,000.00 - $156,000.00This position is eligible for a short-term incentive called the Medtronic Incentive Plan (MIP).The base salary range is applicable across the United States, excluding Puerto Rico and specific locations in California. The offered rate complies with federal and local regulations and may vary based on factors such as experience, certification/education, market conditions, and location. Compensation and benefits information pertains solely to candidates hired within the United States (local market compensation and benefits will apply for others).
The following benefits and additional compensation are available to those regular employees who work 20+ hours per week: Health, Dental and vision insurance,Health Savings Account,Healthcare Flexible Spending Account,Life insurance, Long-term disability leave,Dependent daycare spending account,Tuition assistance/reimbursement, andSimple Steps (global well-being program).
The following benefits and additional compensation are available to all regular employees:Incentive plans, 401(k) plan plus employer contribution and match,Short-term disability,Paid time off,Paid holidays,Employee Stock Purchase Plan,Employee Assistance Program,Non-qualified Retirement Plan Supplement (subject to IRS earning minimums), andCapital Accumulation Plan (available to Vice Presidents and above, or subject to IRS earning minimums).
Regular employees are those who are not temporary, such as interns. Temporary employees are eligible for paid sick time, as required under applicable state law, and the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Please note some of the above benefits may not apply to workers in Puerto Rico.
Further details are available at the link below:
Medtronic benefits and compensation plans
About Medtronic
We lead global healthcare technology and boldly attack the most challenging health problems facing humanity by searching out and finding solutions.
Our Mission — to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life — unites a global team of 95,000+ passionate people.
We are engineers at heart— putting ambitious ideas to work to generate real solutions for real people. From the R&D lab, to the factory floor, to the conference room, every one of us experiments, creates, builds, improves and solves. We have the talent, diverse perspectives, and guts to engineer the extraordinary.
Learn more about our business, mission, and our commitment to diversity here.
It is the policy of Medtronic to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Medtronic will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.
If you are applying to perform work for Medtronic, Inc. (“Medtronic”) in any position which will involve performing at least two (2) hours of work on average each week within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, you can find here a list of all material job duties of the specific job position which Medtronic reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. Medtronic will consider for employment qualified job applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.