Senior R&D Engineer

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 16 Nov 2026
Careers that change lives start here. Medtronic is a global leader in healthcare technology with a Mission to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. Our 95,000 employees work across more than 150 countries to put patients first — developing innovative medical technologies that improve the lives of 72+ million patients each year. Your unique talents will help shape the future of healthcare while building a career grounded in purpose, growth, and impact.
A Day in the LifeSenior R&D Engineer
Careers That Change Lives
At Medtronic, we push the limits of what technology can do to make tomorrow better than yesterday and that makes it an exciting and rewarding place to work. We value what makes you unique. Be a part of a company that thinks differently to solve problems, make progress, and deliver meaningful innovations.
Medtronic’s Cardiovascular Surgery R&D group is looking for a motivated engineer to be part of a high-performing team that is revolutionizing the design and development of medical devices. In this role, you will leverage both your technical breadth and business acumen to maintain the design integrity of commercially available products. The work you do will impact patients globally and help support Medtronic’s mission of alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions.
The Senior R&D Engineer will serve as a technical expert, executing and providing guidance to the team in achieving innovative engineering solutions. As a design engineer, you will be responsible for developing and modifying implant and catheter designs, understanding use conditions and boundary conditions, and evaluating interactions with various components, including delivery systems.
In this role, you will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including executive leadership, customers, vendors, and regulatory agencies, to ensure the successful development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies. Leveraging advanced engineering expertise and reliability concepts, you will proactively identify and resolve complex technical challenges.
You may provide guidance, coaching, and training to engineers while fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. Additionally, you may lead root cause investigations, developing both short-term and long-term corrective actions in partnership with cross-functional teams.
You will work closely with project teams to develop first-principle models, enabling predictive design performance and ensuring product reliability that meets Medtronic’s high standards.
This position is in Santa Ana, CA. within the Cardiovascular Surgery (CVS) Operating Unit. 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 are working on-site 4 days per week as part of our commitment to fostering a culture of professional growth and cross-functional collaboration as we work together to engineer the extraordinary. This role will require less than 10% of travel to enhance collaboration and ensure successful completion of projects.
We believe that when people from different cultures, genders, and points of view come together, innovation is the result —and everyone wins. Medtronic walks the walk, creating an inclusive culture where you can thrive.
A Day in the Life
In general, the following responsibilities apply for the Senior R&D Engineer role. This includes, but is not limited to the following:
Apply advanced scientific and engineering principles and theories such as solid mechanics and mechanical design to solve complex technical problems and develop solutions.
Develop test strategies based on therapeutic requirements derived from voice of customer, and execute on protocol, testing, data analysis, and reports required for regulatory submissions
Apply mechanical engineering principles and tools to evaluate and analyze mechanical designs and interactions.
Identify issues, conduct root cause analysis, and map out resolution when evaluating technology, designing parts, components and sub-assemblies using engineering first principles and appropriate test evaluations
Communicate with internal/external customers and vendors; represent work through internal conferences and collaborations across multiple business units and functions
Design, develop, analyze, troubleshoot and provide technical skills during research and/or product development.
Strongly influence the design of new products, processes, standards, or operational plans based on business strategy with a significant impact on functional results.
Work closely with Release Product Engineering and Quality Engineering for root cause investigations, complaints analysis, supplier change notifications and implement corrective and preventive measures.
Work closely with Quality Engineering and Facilities to plan, coordinate and execute site transfer activities, including equipment installation and qualification, test method transfer and qualification and site readiness.
Qualifications
Must Have - Minimum Requirements
TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS ROLE, PLEASE BE SURE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ARE EVIDENT ON YOUR RESUME
· Bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or math or a related technical discipline and a minimum of 4 years of technical experience OR a Master's degree with a minimum of 2 years technical experience
Nice to Have
Understanding of Reliability Engineering and Statistical Methods
CAD experience especially in SolidWorks
Experience with catheters and stents, especially with Nitinol
Demonstrated aptitude for assessing emerging technologies
Demonstrated business acumen, executive presence, and communication skills
Proven skills in quantitative analysis and data-driven decision making
Experience with conducting strategic brainstorm sessions and ideation activities
Flexible and adaptable, comfortable working in a dynamic environment
About Medtronic
Together, we can change healthcare worldwide. At Medtronic, we push the limits of what technology, therapies and services can do to help alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life. We challenge ourselves and each other to make tomorrow better than yesterday. It is what makes this an exciting and rewarding place to be.
We want to accelerate and advance our ability to create meaningful innovations - but we will only succeed with the right people on our team. Let’s work together to address universal healthcare needs and improve patients’ lives. Help us shape the future.
Physical Job Requirements
PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS - 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. (ADA-United States of America)
For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.
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.
U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship
At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Principal-level roles and above, where specialized expertise aligns with long-term business needs. Roles below the Principal level require candidates to possess unrestricted U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and for the duration of employment.

Skills
Data Analysis, SolidWorks