Associate Director, R&D – Technical Lead

Becton Dickinson Medical Devices • San Diego, CA

4d • Onsite

About The Position

We are the makers of possible BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world. Advancing the world of health™ is our Purpose, and it’s no small feat. It takes the imagination and passion of all of us—from design and engineering to the manufacturing and marketing of our billions of MedTech products per year—to look at the impossible and find transformative solutions that turn dreams into possibilities. We believe that the human element, across our global teams, is what allows us to continually evolve. Join us and discover an environment in which you’ll be supported to learn, grow and become your best self. Become a maker of possible with us. The Infusion R&D Technical Lead provides end‑to‑end technical leadership and is accountable for the overall technical health, performance, and readiness of the infusion platform. This leader drives the technical de‑risking, system integration, and disciplined execution required to deliver safe, reliable, and compliant platform releases. They lead the early identification and rigorous mitigation of high‑impact risks across hardware, software, systems engineering, and cybersecurity—ensuring issues are surfaced early, resolved with engineering discipline, and retired with clear, objective evidence. As the technical authority for the platform, this role sets direction, guides engineering teams through complex decisions, and ensures the platform advances with well‑characterized risks and predictable technical outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Science or Engineering. Master's degree or PhD preferred.
• At least 10 years of growing responsibility in R&D technical engineering roles (4 or more years of experience in leadership capacity) or a PhD in a relevant engineering discipline with 3-5 years of industry experience, with extensive, successful experience in product development and a clear understanding of quality management systems.
• Broad technical background and clearly demonstrated expertise in device engineering: examples include device/system architecture, system integration and testing, and design transfer.
• Demonstrated track record of technical leadership and delivering results
• Experience in developing Regulated products (FDA, Automotive, Industrial, etc.)
• Experience working with cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing multi‑disciplinary engineering teams

Nice To Haves

• Management of complex projects in a Medical Device or other regulated environment preferred

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical leader for complex medical device platforms and major sub‑projects, owning significant portions of the product development lifecycle.
• Provide strong technical leadership and direction to R&D teams, fostering alignment across disciplines and demonstrating the ability to deep‑dive into detailed engineering challenges when needed.
• Champion, establish, and maintain best‑in‑class R&D methodologies, tools, processes, and standards, ensuring rigor, consistency, and compliance across the platform’s engineering activities.
• Develop and lead robust project plans and integrated timelines, ensuring technical deliverables are tied to business priorities, resourced appropriately, and clearly traced to individual engineering responsibilities.
• Drive rapid and innovative problem solving to accelerate product development.
• Lead and execute the full product development lifecycle, demonstrating hands‑on experience driving products from concept through design, integration, verification, validation, regulatory submission support, design transfer, launch, and post‑market sustaining.
• Operate effectively within an environment supporting both organic and inorganic innovation opportunities.
• Partner with Functional Leaders to allocate engineering resources across disciplines, ensuring the right talent is in place to achieve platform goals.
• Mentor, develop, and performance‑manage engineering talent assigned to the platform.
• Manage the annual platform budget and ensure alignment of resources and execution with business strategy.
• Partner with cross‑functional engineering and organizational leaders to support proactive talent planning, optimize resource allocation throughout the year, and ensure continuity and capability across engineering functions.
• Lead technical de‑risking efforts, including identification, characterization, mitigation, and formal retirement of technical risks

Benefits

• At BD, we are strongly committed to investing in our associates—their well-being and development, and in providing rewards and recognition opportunities that promote a performance-based culture. We demonstrate this commitment by offering a valuable, competitive package of compensation and benefits programs which you can learn more about on our Careers Site under Our Commitment to You .

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level