Director, Quality Center of Expertise – Design Quality

Medtronic•Minneapolis, MN

1d•$184,000 - $276,000•Onsite

About The Position

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 21 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.

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 Haves

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

Responsibilities

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.