Principal R&D Engineer

Are you ready to use your catheter development expertise to help shape the future of next-generation medical technology? At Stryker, we’re driven by a shared mission to make healthcare better. As a Principal R&D Engineer within our Peripheral Vascular business, you’ll play a key technical leadership role advancing next-generation catheter technologies in the pulmonary embolism space, with the opportunity to influence technical direction, solve complex development challenges, and drive early concepts toward meaningful solutions. You’ll collaborate across functions, mentor engineering talent, and bring your expertise to highly impactful programs designed to improve patient care.

This role is in Irvine, California.

To learn more about our Peripheral Vascular portfolio, please click here: Peripheral Vascular | Stryker .

What You Will Do

• Lead the design, development, evaluation, and advancement of next-generation catheter-based medical devices.
• Serve as a catheter subject matter expert, providing technical leadership and helping establish development direction across complex projects.
• Translate customer, clinical, and Marketing needs into clear technical requirements, product concepts, and actionable development strategies.
• Navigate early-stage ambiguity by evaluating technical approaches, driving decisions, troubleshooting complex challenges, and creating clarity around the path forward.
• Lead concept development, prototyping, technology evaluation, benchmarking, testing, and technical problem solving for catheter-based technologies.
• Provide technical oversight and partnership for development activities conducted with external development partners while also advancing internally developed technologies.
• Apply advanced engineering principles to catheter design and multidisciplinary challenges that may include mechanical, electromechanical, and sensing technologies.
• Collaborate closely with R&D, Marketing, Quality, Regulatory, Clinical, and Manufacturing partners to advance product development.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to engineers, helping strengthen catheter development knowledge and engineering capabilities across the team.
• Operate with a high degree of independence, ownership, and technical judgment while influencing stakeholders and driving development forward.

What You Will Need

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Minimum eight years of relevant engineering experience in product development, specifically in catheter- based products.
• Demonstrated experience in the design and development of catheter-based products or technologies.
• Strong technical problem-solving skills with experience addressing complex product development challenges.
• Experience translating user, customer, clinical, or business needs into technical requirements and product specifications.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead technical work, establish direction, and make progress in situations where requirements or solutions may not be fully defined.
• Experience providing technical guidance or mentorship to engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Medical device experience, particularly within catheter-based, cardiovascular, peripheral vascular, or neurovascular technologies.
• Experience integrating sensors, electrical components, or electromechanical technologies into catheter-based devices.
• Experience leading early-stage or next-generation product development from concept through prototype and technical feasibility.
• Experience providing technical oversight or collaborating with external development partners.
• Experience working closely with Marketing, Clinical, or other cross-functional stakeholders to translate unmet needs into technical solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and strengthen technical capabilities within a development organization.

• US15 : $135,700 - $226,200 USD Annual