VP R&D - Design Excellence; DfX - Electrophysiology

Position: VP R&D - Design for Excellence (DfX) - Electrophysiology
At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and Med Tech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.

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As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:
R&D Product Development
Job Sub Function:
R&D Process Engineering
Job Category:
People Leader
All Job Posting Locations:
Irvine, California, United States of America, Remote (US)
Job Description:

Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology, we're developing the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatments. Are you passionate about improving and expanding the possibilities of Cardiovascular? Ready to join a team that's reimagining how we heal? Our Cardiovascular team develops leading solutions for heart recovery, electrophysiology, and stroke. You will join a proud heritage of continually elevating standards of care for stroke, heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at

We are searching for the best talent to join our team as an VP R&D - Design for Excellence (DfX) - Electrophysiology to preferably be located in Irvine, California.

Purpose:

The VP R&D - Design for Excellence (DfX) owns the enterprise DfX strategy, roadmap, standards and governance that ensure new and evolving products meet target quality, cost, manufacturability, serviceability, sustainability and time-to-market objectives. This leader builds and operationalizes maturity models, checklists and tooling, drives cross-functional alignment, enables continuous improvement, and leads a team of DfX specialists across product development and operations.

The VP of DfX will be accountable to achieve the following outcomes:

• All designs are manufacturable, assemble-able, testable, automatable, cost-effective, reliable, serviceable and scalable, while meeting, quality safety, regulatory and business requirements
• Teams consistently use DfX methods and tools across programs
• Cross-functional decision-making improvements

You will be responsible for:

DfX Strategy, Governance and Operating model

• Create and maintain DfX standards, stage gate criteria checklists, templates / tools
• Track KPIs and drive continuous improvements Define and maintain the enterprise DfX vision, multi-year roadmap and value case aligned to business objectives (cost, quality, cycle time, sustainability).
• Translate strategy into prioritized programs, capability investments and KPIs
• Identify emerging DfX trends, technologies and business risks (e.g., advanced manufacturing, digital engineering, regulatory changes) and recommend strategic responses
• Sponsor pilots to validate high-value DfX initiatives and scale successful approaches
• Design and run the DfX governance framework (steering committees, stage-gate checkpoints, approval authorities, escalation paths)
• Establish design gates, formal DfX review cadence and sign-off criteria for product lifecycle stages
• Define roles & responsibilities for DfX accountabilities across R&D, manufacturing, quality and supply chain
• Implement audit and compliance processes for DfX adherence and continuous governance improvement

Program Oversight and Technical Leadership

• Lead early approach to implement tolerance stackups, process capability, automation, test, supply
• Lead portfolio-level DfX programs: set scope, milestones, resource plans and deliverables
• Own technical outputs: enterprise DfX standards, design rules, checklists, maturity models, DFMEA/DVP&R best practices and verification criteria
• Provide hands-on technical guidance on complex design-for-manufacturing, design-for-test, design-for-service, design-for-reliability and design-for-sustainability problems
• Define and track DfX KPIs (e.g., cost reduction, first-pass yield, warranty rate, rework, time-to-volume)
• Oversee root-cause analysis and corrective actions for high-impact field failures and design escapes

Cross-functional Integration

• Align manufacturing on early feasibility, tooling, process flow, PFMEA/control plans, and inspection strategy
• Align Quality on risk methods, verification approach, and CTQs
• Facilitate alignment between Product Development, Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, Regulatory and Service
• Chair cross-functional DfX review panels and lead conflict resolution for competing tradeoffs (cost vs. reliability vs. time-to-market)
• Partner with…