R&D Engineer

Building the sensor system that will go into patients’ hearts

Eindhoven, Netherlands Full-time Junior / Medior Start Q4 2026 Apply by 1 November 2026

Every year, more than 100,000 patients in the US and Europe undergo catheter ablation for ventricular tachycardia — a heart rhythm disorder that can be fatal. Most procedures happen without real-time tissue feedback: the electrophysiologist burns the tissue, ends the procedure, and hopes that the lesion has reached the source of the arrhythmia. In published studies, up to 50% of patients have the arrhythmia back within a year.

That is the gap we are closing.

Sonic Precision is changing that. We integrate a near-field ultrasound sensor into the tip of the ablation catheter. The sensor shows the electrophysiologist what is happening inside the tissue while the procedure is still running. For the first time, the physician can confirm that a lesion is deep enough before ending the procedure.

We are a Philips spin-out, based in Eindhoven. We hold an exclusive, worldwide licence to the relevant Philips patent families covering near-field ultrasound sensing in ablation catheters. We are actively raising a €4M seed round, of which €1.5M is confirmed grant funding (so it does not dilute the company) from OP Zuid, Eurostars, and Brabant Startup Fonds. Our pre-clinical programme runs in partnership with CARIM at Maastricht University and TU Eindhoven.

Our next inflection point is First-in-Human — the very first use of the device in patients.

We are looking for an R&D Engineer to build the physical system that makes First in Human studies possible — the catheter prototype integrating near-field ultrasound sensing with the ablation function and proving the concept in a pre-clinical setting, on the path to First-in-Human.

This is a junior to mid-level role for a hands‑on engineer who wants to take a medical device from the bench to the clinic. It is a good first or second engineering job: you will learn faster here than in a large company, because you own parts of the system from the start. You work directly with the founders and our System Engineer to build, integrate, and test the catheter prototype system — first on the bench, then in a pre‑clinical setting, then scaled toward First-in-Human.

You will be making design decisions that set the architecture of a system that will eventually enter patients. If that sounds exciting rather than scary, this is the right job for you.

• Design, build, and test the prototype catheter system and the testing infrastructure for evaluation on the bench and in pre‑clinical environments
• Make design choices at proof‑of‑concept stage that ensure the step to a clinical system (investigational device) is a scaling exercise, not a redesign: think ahead about CE marking, sterilisation, and single‑use requirements from the start
• Develop and validate signal processing algorithms to extract tissue characterisation information from the raw ultrasound data

• Collaborate with external suppliers and contract manufacturers in hardware, catheter integration, and electronics miniaturisation: translate requirements into supplier briefs and make sure they deliver what they promised, on time
• Work with CARIM / MUMC+ on the pre‑clinical study setup, ensuring the prototype system is ready for the animal lab environment and signal quality meets study endpoints
• Contribute to the technical programme alongside the System Engineer, Clinical Scientist, and Technical Project Lead — keeping your work‑stream visible and flagging blockers early

• Structure technical documentation — requirements,…