Senior Principal Engineer - R&D Digital

About this role

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 DevelopmentJob Sub Function:
R&D DigitalJob Category:
Scientific/TechnologyAll Job Posting Locations:
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Remote (US)Job Description:
We are searching for the best talent for a Senior Principal Engineer – R&D Digital to join our Orthopaedics team. This is a remote position, with a preference that someone is located Boston, MA.
Purpose:
This role will guide the technical direction, architecture, scope and day-to-day execution of a project along with others while acting as a bridge between engineering teams and cross-functional business stakeholders for complex, multi-disciplinary robotics projects. The Senior Principal Engineer will serve as the technical owner for robotic-enabled joint solutions, driving and supporting system-level design decisions, ensuring cross-discipline alignment, and supporting successful commercialization.
Key Responsibilities:

• Technical Direction, Architecture & Scope: Defines the system architecture with the help of others, project scope, and makes core engineering decisions throughout the project; evaluates opportunities for 3rd party involvement and manages their output, when applicable.

• Team Guidance: In collaboration with Project Management, leads technical project execution, eliminates technical road-blocks, resolves design conflicts and promotes engineering best practices.

• Cross-Functional Bridge: Translates business goals into technical requirements; drives collaboration between commercial, quality, regulatory, supply chain, education, and service care; ensures continuity between mechanical, electrical, and software design efforts.

• Leadership Communication: Acts as the voice of the project, communicating project status and key technical decisions to leadership and business stakeholders.

• Customer Interface: Leads technical VoC, identifying unmet needs and pressure-testing design solutions; supports commercial launch ensuring cross-functional stakeholders are armed with necessary resources to sell, train, and service the product.

• Supports System-level design and integration of robotic subsystems, including motion/actuation, sensors, end-effectors, and controls for joint-replacement workflows.

• Leads and supports DFx/DFM activities and contribute to DFMEA; partner with suppliers and contract manufacturers to ensure manufacturability and scalability.

• Drives and supports verification & validation planning and execution in partnership with Quality and Test teams to meet clinical and regulatory expectations.

• Mentor and coach engineering staff; foster a collaborative engineering culture and uphold design control best practices.

• Support technical inputs for regulatory submissions, clinical evaluations, and launch readiness activities.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (e.g., Mechanical, Biomedical, Mechatronics, Electrical, Robotics, or related engineering discipline) from an accredited institution (or foreign equivalent).

• Familiarity with medical device design controls, verification & validation, and relevant regulations/standards (FDA 510(k)/PMA processes, ISO 13485, ISO 14971, IEC 60601 where applicable).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in engineering or related technical field.

• 10+ years of relevant product development experience, with progressive responsibility in robotics, electromechanical systems, or medical devices.

• Prior experience in orthopedic joints, surgical robotics, or related implant/robotics systems.

• Demonstrated experience defining system architecture and making high-impact engineering trade-offs for multi-disciplinary programs.

• Hands-on experience with mechanism design, actuation, sensors, embedded controls, and system-level integration.

• Strong software/controls familiarity (e.g., ROS, real-time control frameworks, C/C++, Python, MATLAB/Simulink).

• Experience with model-based design, system simulation, motion planning, and/or kinematics/dynamics analysis.

• Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and managing third-party engineering partners or contract manufacturers.

• Experience with DFMEA, tolerance analysis, GD&T, and supplier quality management.

• Strong communication skills and experience presenting technical strategy and status to senior leadership and business stakeholders.

• Demonstrated customer-facing experience (VoC, clinical stakeholder engagement, technical support for launches).

• Patent filings, publications, or recognized technical contributions in robotics or medical devices.

About Orthopaedics:
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 Orthopaedics? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Orthopaedics teams help keep more than 6 million people moving each year while delivering clinical and economic value to surgeons and healthcare systems. Our teams build solutions for joint reconstruction; trauma and craniomaxillofacial;…