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Associate Principal R&D Engineer

In-Office, Covington, GA

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Job ID
R-550371
Category
Engineering
Location
Covington, Georgia

Build an engineering career where innovation, ownership and impact move healthcare forward

At BD, Engineering and R&D professionals design, develop and improve the technologies that shape how healthcare is delivered worldwide. You'll apply scientific thinking, technical expertise and creative problem-solving to turn complex challenges into solutions that matter.

Whether you specialize in mechanical, electrical, process, systems, software or research engineering, BD offers the scale, resources and freedom to innovate – with clear expectations, accountability for outcomes and opportunities to grow your career alongside industry-leading technology.

And as one of the world's largest medical technology companies, you'll shape solutions that reach across global healthcare systems and improve lives at scale.

We are the people who give possibilities purpose

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.

Job Description

Summary

As an Associate Principal Engineer, the chosen candidate will serve as the Platform Technology Architect for the Pump & Fluid Platform across the UCC urine evacuation product portfolio. In this role assignment, the individual guides the organization’s multi-generation technology strategy for pump-enabled urine evacuation systems and related platform capabilities.

The selected candidate will own the architectural direction and capability roadmap across pump/fluid evacuation performance, battery/power/charging, patient/device/canister interfaces, liquid level detection, leak and fault detection, odor/smell reduction, sound/noise reduction, reliability, serviceability, and platform-level verification methods.

The individual in this position partners with engineering, quality, regulatory, operations, marketing, human factors, manufacturing, service, supply chain, and program teams to ensure pump and fluid platform improvements are prioritized, measured, reusable, and consistently deployed from product to product.

This role assignment is not the day-to-day detailed design owner for product components; it establishes the technical vision, standards, interfaces, capability targets, and decision framework that product teams execute.

Core Responsibilities

  • Own the UCC pump and fluid platform capability roadmap across pump/fluid evacuation, battery/power/charging, patient/device/canister interfaces, liquid level detection, leak and fault detection, odor mitigation, acoustic performance, reliability, serviceability, and platform test methods.

  • Define “crawl/walk/run” maturity steps for each pump and fluid platform domain and align them to product release trains across the urine evacuation portfolio.

  • Ensure the roadmap integrates inputs from VOC, complaints, service data, usability findings, manufacturing yield, reliability trends, cost targets, supplier constraints, component obsolescence, regulatory needs, and latest technological advancements.

  • Lead periodic pump and fluid platform strategy reviews and publish the roadmap with clear deliverables, decision points, investment needs, and success metrics.

  • Establish system-level architecture principles, modularity strategy, interface expectations, performance guardrails, and reuse models so improvements can be leveraged across multiple products instead of recreated program-by-program.

  • Serve as Pump & Fluid Platform technical authority for technology-impacting changes, including participation in CCB, architecture reviews, and pre-PGR technical assessments.

  • Create and maintain reference architectures, design decision records, platform standards, preferred technologies, supplier strategy recommendations, reusable design patterns, and test method expectations.

  • Provide go/no-go guidance on major platform architecture choices, including pump mechanism strategy, motor/control architecture, fluid path design, battery/power approach, charging strategy, connection interfaces, sensing architecture, and acoustic/odor mitigation approaches.

  • Establish expectations for pump and fluid evacuation performance, including vacuum/pressure targets, flow performance, canister and tubing compatibility, filtration considerations, dry/wet operating conditions, and consumable interface requirements.

  • Define power and charging architecture principles that support runtime, charge time, battery life, safety, reliability, serviceability, regulatory expectations, and user experience across product releases.

  • Guide sensing and detection architecture, including liquid level detection, occlusion detection, leak/fault detection, wet/dirty environment robustness, alarm behavior, and nuisance alarm reduction.

  • Establish odor mitigation and acoustic performance principles, including design guardrails, measurement methods, capability targets, and release-over-release improvement scorecards.

  • Partner with manufacturing, supplier quality, operations, and supply chain to align platform choices with manufacturability, scalability, yield, cost, reliability, component availability, and supply continuity.

  • Influence verification, validation, and reliability strategy, including representative use conditions, accelerated life testing, environmental stress considerations, cleaning/service assumptions, and release readiness criteria.

  • Drive platform-level decisions that improve performance, robustness, serviceability, maintainability, user experience, sustaining efficiency, and long-term platform evolution.

  • Translate the pump and fluid platform roadmap for product design teams; ensure clear ownership by systems, mechanical, electrical, software, verification, operations, service, supplier, and program teams.

  • Partner with PDLs, CTLs, Tech Leads, Marketing, Innovation, Quality, Regulatory, Human Factors, Operations, Service, and Supply Chain to bring the best technical solution to governance forums and product programs.

  • Support risk posture, verification approach, design control expectations, human factors considerations, manufacturing readiness, and regulatory submission readiness.

  • Promote reuse by ensuring teams adopt platform modules, interface standards, reference architectures, test methods, supplier strategies, and common design patterns unless a program-specific exception is justified and documented.

  • Use field data, complaints, service returns, user feedback, manufacturing trends, supplier performance, and reliability data to prioritize the next platform improvements.

Qualifications

  • BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or related technical discipline.

  • 10+ years of experience in electromechanical medical devices, portable pump systems, fluid management systems, regulated product development, or platform-based product development with reuse across releases.

  • Demonstrated success leading cross-functional technical strategy, not only subsystem design or program execution.

  • Strong background in systems thinking, platform architecture, trade studies, risk management, design controls, verification strategy, reliability engineering, and supplier/technology evaluation.

  • Ability to influence without direct authority across systems, mechanical, electrical, software, quality, regulatory, marketing, operations, human factors, service, supply chain, and program teams.

Preferred

  • Experience with portable pumps/fluid management, battery-powered consumer or clinical devices, vacuum/pressure/flow systems, sensors in wet/dirty environments, acoustics/odor control, and consumables ecosystems.

  • Experience with pump mechanism selection, motor/control strategy, power management, battery/charging systems, liquid level sensing, occlusion detection, leak detection, fault detection, alarm behavior, and nuisance alarm reduction.

  • Experience with FDA-regulated medical devices, design controls, risk management, verification and validation, usability/human factors, complaint trending, sustaining engineering, and regulated product release processes.

  • Experience establishing platform governance, architecture review boards, capability scorecards, reusable modules, interface standards, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps across multiple product releases.

  • Experience with manufacturing scale-up, supplier strategy, component technology evaluation, reliability engineering, serviceability, cost reduction, and lifecycle management for electromechanical platforms.

At BD, we prioritize on-site collaboration because we believe it fosters creativity, innovation, and effective problem-solving, which are essential in the fast-paced healthcare industry. For most roles, we require a minimum of 4 days of in-office presence per week to maintain our culture of excellence and ensure smooth operations, while also recognizing the importance of flexibility and work-life balance. Remote or field-based positions will have different workplace arrangements which will be indicated in the job posting.

For certain roles at BD, employment is contingent upon the Company’s receipt of sufficient proof that you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In some locations, testing for COVID-19 may be available and/or required. Consistent with BD’s Workplace Accommodations Policy, requests for accommodation will be considered pursuant to applicable law.

Why Join Us?

To find purpose in the possibilities, we need people who can see the bigger picture, who understand the human story that underpins everything we do. We welcome people with the imagination and drive to help us reinvent the future of healthcare. At BD, you’ll discover a culture in which you can learn, grow and thrive.

We believe that when people connect in person, we learn faster, collaborate more deeply, and build a stronger culture. Join us and enjoy a culture where face-to-face collaboration supports your learning, your progress, and your success.

To learn more about BD visithttps://bd.com/careers.

Becton, Dickinson, and Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We evaluate applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital or domestic or civil union status, familial status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, disability, military eligibility or veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.

Required Skills

Optional Skills

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Primary Work Location

USA GA - Covington BMD

Additional Locations

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Success Profile

What sets successful Engineering and R&D professionals apart? You're likely to thrive if you are:

  • Analytical
  • Collaborative
  • Curious
  • Detail-oriented
  • Inventive
  • Problem-solver

Ready for your next challenge?

This is an environment for engineers who want to think boldly and execute with precision. You'll have the opportunity to influence design decisions, contribute across the full product lifecycle and see how your work moves from concept to real-world impact – backed by the scale of a global MedTech leader.

Hear from one of our BD Innovators about how BD uses cutting-edge AI and machine learning to power decisions that improve patient outcomes and expand access to care. This is where your work drives real-time impact across the globe.

Hear from Our Associates

  • "BD is a big, global company so don't be afraid to connect with and reach out to others. There is so much to learn here, and the company does an amazing job of helping people develop and grow. I'd also offer to become like a sponge and soak up as much knowledge as you can and put your Career Blueprint to work for you. I really love my job and am so grateful to work at BD."

  • "I think we have something like more than 30 different countries represented by those working within the Research Centre Ireland, which is impressive and one of my favourite things about BD. I work with electrical, mechanical engineers, scientists and so many others – it's wonderful to see and hear so many different perspectives during the day."

  • "I continue to be amazed at how we keep innovating in the Med Tech space. We constantly evaluate how to bring even more solutions to healthcare professionals, how to increase the efficiency of our technologies, all while keeping the patient impact in mind. Not only have I found meaningful work at BD, but a place where I feel I can thrive."

  • "During my interview, I learned how much of an impact our infusion solutions have across the world and I was impressed because whether it's analgesics, cancer treatments, anesthesia or other treatments, the likelihood of someone within your own family using our product is high. Contributing to the creation of products that have the ability to make such a big impact in healthcare is a great feeling. I love my role at BD."

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