About this role
We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 12 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 Life
The Spine R&D organization develops spinal implants, instruments, and systems used to treat degenerative, deformity, and tumor/trauma conditions. This role supports new product development from early concepts through verification, validation, and market release, with a focus on translating clinical and customer needs into solutions for spine surgery.
Check us out on LinkedIn: Medtronic CST
This position is based at the Medtronic Spine Hub in Memphis, Tennessee, and requires onsite work a minimum of four days per week. Domestic travel is less than 10%, typically 1–2 days per month.
As an R&D Engineer I, you will develop spinal implants, instruments, and systems while collaborating with cross-functional teams and customers throughout the new product development process. You will translate Voice of the Customer (VOC) input into product requirements, design specifications, and mechanical concepts, and support testing, risk management, verification, validation, and design documentation.
Primary Responsibilities
- Develop mechanical concepts and designs for spinal implants, instruments, and systems from initial design through market release.
- Translate customer and clinical needs into stakeholder requirements, system requirements, design specifications, and product concepts.
- Evaluate system interfaces, use cases, and design risks; investigate issues and implement design improvements.
- Design and conduct tests, experiments, numerical analyses, and evaluations to optimize product performance.
- Support verification and validation activities to demonstrate that designs meet requirements, user needs, and intended use.
- Incorporate feedback from customers, clinical users, cross-functional partners, suppliers, and consultants into product designs.
- Create engineering reports, presentations, drawings, and design documentation throughout the development lifecycle.
- Build spinal systems and clinical-use knowledge through customer and field visits, pre-clinical in vivo labs, literature reviews, and training.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a technical discipline.
- Experience with mechanical design principles.
- Experience with engineering drawing standards, including Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) and tolerance stack analysis.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or biomedical engineering with a mechanical design focus or experience.
- Experience with Creo, SolidWorks, or similar three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) software.
- Experience with systems engineering methodologies, including requirements development, analysis, allocation, traceability, and verification and validation.
- Knowledge of surgical instrumentation, spinal anatomy, clinical procedures, machining, or additive manufacturing/3D printing.
- Experience in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated medical device environment, including applicable International Organization for Standardization (ISO) requirements, Quality System Regulations, and product lifecycle management systems such as Agile or Windchill.
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.
Recruitment Fraud Alert
We are aware of phishing scams targeting job seekers. Please keep the following in mind:
Apply only through official Medtronic channels. All legitimate Medtronic recruiting communications come from approved Medtronic platforms and official @medtronic.com email addresses.
Medtronic will never ask for payment or sensitive personal information (such as bank account or Social Security details) during early stages of the hiring process. Any such requests are not legitimate.
If you receive a suspicious message claiming to be from Medtronic, do not respond, click links, or open attachments.
If you have any questions, concerns regarding the authenticity of a communication alleged to have been made by or on behalf of Medtronic, please contact us immediately at AskHR@medtronic.com .
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):$74,400.00 - $111,600.00
This position is eligible for a short-term incentive called the Medtronic Incentive Plan (MIP).
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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 , and Simple 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) , and Capital 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
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.