Senior Manager, Design Quality

Fortive•Irvine, CA

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Design Quality is accountable for both the execution and governance of design quality and development excellence across the product lifecycle, from user needs and design inputs through design transfer and ongoing post‑market performance. This role ensures that design intent, risk controls, usability requirements, and verification and validation (V&V) strategies are appropriately defined, rigorously executed by programs, and sustained to enable high‑quality, compliant product launches. This role integrates post‑market feedback, field performance data, and reliability insights into design quality strategies to drive continuous product improvement, risk reduction, and prevention of recurrence. As a people manager, the Senior Manager, Design Quality leads and develops a team of design quality engineers and partners closely with R&D, Clinical, Regulatory, Product Management, and other Product Quality functions to ensure products are safe, effective, reliable, and inspection‑ready throughout their lifecycle.

Requirements

Bachelor’s in Engineering, Science, or related field; advanced degree (MS, MBA) preferred.
12+ years in medical device quality/engineering across the product lifecycle (design controls, supplier quality, manufacturing quality, customer quality), with 7+ years managing people and managers.
Direct experience preparing for/hosting FDA, Notified Body, and other health authority inspections; strong understanding of regulatory submissions and technical documentation expectations.
Equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
Global device QMS & regulations: expert knowledge of ISO 13485; ISO 14971 risk management; ISO/TR 20416 post market surveillance; IEC 62366‑1 usability engineering; and regional regulations including FDA 21 CFR Part 820 (QMSR), 21 CFR 803/806, and EU MDR 2017/745.
Demonstrated ability to connect design requirements and risk controls to V&V plans, supplier requirements/capabilities, manufacturing controls, and post market performance—with strong requirement traceability discipline.
Advanced competency in statistics for quality: sampling plans, process capability (Cp/Cpk, Pp/Ppk), SPC, reliability methods, and trend/signal detection.
Deep experience with design controls, risk files, DHF/DMR/Technical Documentation, process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), and change control across internal and external manufacturing.
Business acumen and executive communication; able to translate complex quality/risk topics into clear recommendations and influence across R&D, Operations, Clinical, and Regulatory functions.
Technology fluency with eQMS, PLM, and requirements management tools
Advanced leadership skills to prioritize team capability building, optimize staffing investments, and inspire teams in alignment with business priorities.
Consistently gathers voice of customer at gemba to ensure customer problems are prioritized and solved.
Challenges the status quo and coaches others to take a stand in support of the organization’s purpose.
Fosters a culture of experimentation and challenges others to develop breakthrough solutions.
Models collaboration and ensures cross‑functional prioritization to support organizational vision and strategy.
Demonstrates urgency and ownership to consistently deliver on objectives using FBS.

Responsibilities

Defines and executes an end‑to‑end product lifecycle design quality strategy, ensuring alignment from development through commercialization and ongoing post‑market performance
Accountable for assuring end‑to‑end design control activities are effectively executed by programs, including traceability from user needs through verification and validation
Responsible for design risk management and assurance that usability engineering activities are appropriately applied and effective in accordance with applicable standards (e.g., ISO 14971, IEC 62366)
Ensures Design History Files (DHF) demonstrate completeness, accuracy, and readiness to support high‑quality product launches and inspections
Accountable for assuring the effectiveness and adequacy of design verification and validation (V&V) activities by reviewing and approving strategies, protocols, and reports
Confirms statistical rationale, sample sizes, and coverage of design and user requirements are appropriate to demonstrate product performance and intended use
Assures objective evidence is sufficient to verify all design risk controls and support a high‑quality, compliant product launch
Provides oversight and challenge to program teams to ensure V&V findings, design evaluations, root cause analyses, and regression testing results are appropriately addressed
Owns and drives product quality improvement projects to address post‑market feedback, field issues, and emerging risk signals
Partners with Customer Quality, Manufacturing Quality, Supplier Quality, and R&D to translate field data, complaints, and reliability insights into prioritized design improvements
Leads root cause analysis and cross‑functional countermeasure implementation to prevent recurrence and improve product performance across the lifecycle
Partners with Regulatory and Clinical teams to support regulatory submissions and inspections
Provides subject‑matter expertise for design controls, V&V, and risk management during audits
Partners closely with R&D, Clinical, Regulatory, Product, Manufacturing Quality, and Supplier Quality teams to enable compliant, on‑time product launches
Promotes advanced quality engineering practices and a culture of quality excellence and continuous improvement
Directly leads, coaches, and develops a team of design quality engineering professionals
Sets clear performance expectations, provides regular feedback, and supports technical skill development
Fosters a culture of accountability, technical rigor, and continuous improvement