R&D Engineer - Memphis - Onsite

A Day in the Life

Across our global Neuroscience organization, we advance care for some of medicine’s most complex neurological and spinal conditions. By combining innovative technology, data-driven insights, and deep clinical expertise, we partner with physicians and health systems to improve how patients are treated and supported throughout their care journey.

Our Cranial & Spinal Technologies (CST) operating unit advances surgical care for spine and cranial conditions through an integrated ecosystem of implants, navigation, robotics, imaging, and planning tools. Platforms like AiBLE enhance precision, efficiency, and outcomes for complex procedures worldwide.

As an R&D Engineer I, you will develop life‑saving medical device products for spine surgery. Key responsibilities include collaborating with a team to lead new product development; developing and designing implants, instruments, and systems; conducting product and use testing; and managing system interfaces. You will actively seek out Voice of the Customer (VOC) input and translate that into product requirements, design specifications, and mechanical concepts.

You will work under general direction and may serve as a key functional core team member or as an engineer on an extended team. The product focus will be on spinal implants and instrumentation to treat degenerative, deformity, and tumor/trauma conditions.

• Supports and implements all aspects of multiple simultaneous designs and development of new medical device products from initial design to market release in accordance with agreed project timelines and NPI Development processes.
• Conceptualizes designs that meet the needs and uses of the customer, regulatory agencies, and the business.
• Provides technical insight into the definition, evaluation, and mitigation of risk of system designs. This includes understanding system interfaces, use cases, and conditions, investigating and resolving system and design issues, making improvements to address customer feedback and requests, and supporting testing activities.
• Engages with customers (internal and external) to understand and prioritize their needs and apply feedback to improve designs.
• Translates customer needs into stakeholder and system requirements.
• Optimizes designs by designing and conducting relevant tests, experiments, and evaluations, including numerical verification.
• Supports the design and execution of verification and validation activities, ensuring products meet user needs, system requirements, and intended use.
• Writes engineering reports and creates presentations as required to document and communicate results.
• Contributes and builds domain knowledge around spinal systems, their clinical use and application via customer and field visits, pre‑clinical in vivo labs, literature searches, and training.
• Supports documentation throughout all phases of research and development.
• Participate in meetings with outside suppliers and consultants to ensure timely delivery.
• Investigates and evaluates existing technologies.
• Contributes inventions, new designs, and techniques regarded as advances in the medical and technical/scientific community.
• Maintains training and ensures personal understanding of all quality policy/system items that are applicable. Follow all work/quality procedures to ensure quality system compliance and high‑quality work.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a technical‑related degree – Mechanical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering with a focus or experience in mechanical design is preferred.

• Design agility in a fast‑paced environment with a quality and customer service mindset, along with a sense of urgency and ownership.
• Creativity in design, documentation, and problem‑solving with speed as a priority.
• Capability to define and follow priorities with multiple simultaneous projects.
• Knowledge of surgical instruments use conditions and OR setup (Spine is a plus).
• Strong collaborator in a cross‑functional and multi‑cultural team environment.
• Strong team player aiming to win as a team.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent written and communication…