Director, Quality Center of Expertise – Design Quality

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 30 Jul 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

At Medtronic, you can begin a life-long career of exploration and innovation, while helping champion healthcare access and equity for all. You’ll lead with purpose, breaking down barriers to innovation in a more connected, compassionate world. We must work with a sense of purpose and ownership, knowing there is a human life on the other side of every decision.

In this enterprise leadership role, the Director, Quality Center of Expertise – Design Quality will advance Design Quality excellence across Medtronic by shaping strategy, standards, governance, and performance visibility for critical product development and quality system capabilities. You will partner across Operating Units, Regions, and Core Quality Services to simplify and standardize Design Quality practices, strengthen inspection readiness, and enable consistent execution across a broad global product portfolio.

This role requires deep product development, Design Quality, and Quality Systems experience across multiple product categories and geographies, combined with the ability to lead through influence in a highly matrixed environment. The Director will develop and execute functional objectives, build enterprise capability, and develop employees with the skills, knowledge, and judgment needed to move Medtronic Operating Units forward. The role also values digital fluency, including the ability to use AI-enabled tools and effective prompt writing to improve quality processes, knowledge management, decision-making, and productivity.

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’re working a minimum of 4 days a week onsite 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 position is onsite at any U.S. site listed.

This position will be onsite, based at one of the following Medtronic sites in the contiguous United States:

• Mounds View, MN / Minneapolis, MN (Twin Cities Campus).

• Irvine, CA / Santa Ana, CA (Orange County Campus)

• Boulder, CO (Colorado Campus)

• Danvers, MA (Greater Boston area)

• North Haven, CT

• Memphis, TN.

• Fort Worth, TX.

• Jacksonville, FL

Requires up to 20% travel per year.

As Director, Quality Center of Expertise - Design Quality, you will model and reinforce integrity, transparency, accountability, and respect for people while creating an environment of open communication and continuous improvement. You will own enterprise Design Quality KPIs and strategic initiatives, influence inspection readiness and Quality Systems shared services, and elevate decisions with potential enterprise-wide implications for performance, the Medtronic brand, legal exposure, or product safety risk.

Responsibilities may include the following and other duties may be assigned.

• Develop and execute the enterprise Design Quality strategy, standards, governance model, and service priorities in partnership with Operating Units, Regions, and Core Quality Services.

• Establish and uphold strategically important Design Quality standards that enable consistent execution, regulatory readiness, and effective quality outcomes across Medtronic’s global product portfolio.

• Own enterprise Design Quality process health, KPI visibility, and performance management mechanisms to identify trends, elevate risks, and drive timely action.

• Create and lead real-time critical process governance for high-priority product development programs, including expert consultation, issue escalation, and cross-functional alignment.

• Serve as a trusted enterprise partner to Operating Units by providing expert coaching, tools, shared services, and practical support that strengthen Design Quality execution.

• Develop and deploy common Medtronic Design Quality practices across a broad product portfolio, including implantable devices, software, combination products, and other complex technologies.

• Partner with Productivity, Operations, and Quality Systems leaders on large-scale initiatives that improve product development, manufacturing performance, and enterprise quality effectiveness.

• Lead Design Quality shared services and tracking processes to ensure accountability, transparency, and measurable performance for critical Quality System activities.

• Build enterprise Design Quality capability by developing talent, strengthening technical rigor, and creating learning and development pathways for direct-line quality team members.

• Cultivate an ethical, inclusive, and continuous-improvement culture grounded in integrity, accountability, respect for people, and open communication.

• Influence decisions with potential enterprise-wide impact, including matters involving product safety, regulatory compliance, legal exposure, Medtronic brand reputation, or business performance.

• Drive Design Quality Excellence across Operating Units by aligning OU practices to enterprise standards while enabling practical, risk-based execution in local business contexts.

Must Have: Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree required and 10 years of relevant enterprise scale experience leading, developing and motivating large and diverse teams to service a broad population of stakeholders, OR Advanced degree with a minimum of 8 years of relevant enterprise scale experience leading, developing and motivating large and diverse teams to service a broad population of stakeholders.

• Minimum of 7+ years of managerial experience leading teams.

Nice to Have

• Knowledge of ISO 13485, EU MDR, GMP, and FDA standards and QMSR.

• Operating Unit experience with product(s) having been a contributing member of core team during product development.

• Influential communication and collaboration skills.

• Innovative thought-leader with matrix leadership experience.

• Continuous improvement, customer-focused mindset.

• Experience leading, developing, and motivating large teams.

• Strong judgment and decision-making; risk-based decision-making, skilled problem-solving coach.

• Experienced prompt engineer.

• Green or Black Belt Certification

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 .

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):$184,000.00 - $276,000.00This position is eligible for a short-term incentive called the Medtronic Incentive Plan (MIP).This position is eligible for an annual long-term incentive plan.The base salary range is applicable across the United States, excluding Puerto Rico. Base pay is based on numerous factors and may vary by job-related knowledge, skills, experience, etc. 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, andSimple 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), andCapital 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:

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 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.