Principal Manufacturing Systems Engineer

Medtronic•Lafayette, CO

3d•$123,200 - $184,800•Onsite

About The Position

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 11 Sep 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, we bring bold ideas forward with speed and decisiveness to put patients first in everything we do. In-person collaboration is an important part of how we work, and this role supports our onsite 4-day work model to strengthen cross-functional partnership, problem solving, and professional growth. The Principal Manufacturing Systems Engineer is a member of cross-functional teams that combine the skills of Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Information Technology, and Operations. This position is responsible for the design, development, validation, and support of manufacturing digital architectures that enable the transmission of information across the factory floor and enterprise environment. These activities support Smart Digital Factory initiatives and contribute to best-in-class quality, efficiency, testability, and serviceability for Surgical Devices products. This role partners closely with manufacturing engineering, IT, controls engineering, quality, and production teams to design scalable solutions that connect machines, PLCs, databases, and enterprise systems. Using Ignition and related industrial software technologies, this individual will help enable real-time visibility into production, equipment performance, quality, and operational status through operator interfaces, dashboards, reporting, and data collection systems. A working understanding of PLCs, including Allen-Bradley systems, is important to support integration with plant-floor equipment and control architecture.

Requirements

Requires a Baccalaureate degree and minimum of 7 years of relevant experience OR Master's degree with a minimum of 5 years relevant experience OR PhD with 3 years relevant experience.
For Baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A) is required.
U.S. work authorization sponsorship (H-1B, TN, J, etc.) is offered exclusively for Principal-level roles and above, where specialized expertise aligns with long-term business needs. Roles below the Principal level require candidates to possess unrestricted U.S. work authorization at the time of hire and for the duration of employment.

Nice To Haves

Experience developing solutions in Ignition, including Perspective and Vision
Python programming experience for scripting, automation, data processing, and system integration
Experience with SQL databases, data acquisition, and manufacturing reporting
Familiarity with MES, ERP, SCADA, or historian platforms and their integration within digital manufacturing environments
Strong understanding of manufacturing cybersecurity, industrial networking, and OT/IT integration best practices
Working knowledge of PLCs and industrial automation, including Allen-Bradley systems and interface integration with plant-floor equipment

Responsibilities

Design and develop Ignition applications (Perspective and Vision)
Create real-time production dashboards
Develop HMIs and operator interfaces
Build SQL databases and write complex SQL queries
Connect PLCs and industrial devices to Ignition
Configure OPC-UA communications
Develop alarming, notifications, and reporting
Integrate manufacturing systems with MES and ERP systems
Troubleshoot plant-floor connectivity issues
Create historian and production data collection systems
Design KPI dashboards (OEE, downtime, throughput, scrap, FPY)
Build automated reports for operations and management
Work with cybersecurity and IT to deploy secure architectures
Support production during equipment launches
Document system architecture and software changes

Benefits

Competitive Salary and flexible Benefits Package
Health, Dental and vision insurance
Health Savings Account
Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
Life insurance
Long-term disability leave
Dependent daycare spending account
Tuition assistance/reimbursement
Simple Steps (global well-being program)
Incentive plans
401(k) plan plus employer contribution and match
Short-term disability
Paid time off
Paid holidays
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Employee Assistance Program
Non-qualified Retirement Plan Supplement (subject to IRS earning minimums)
Capital Accumulation Plan (available to Vice Presidents and above, or subject to IRS earning minimums)