Software Application Engineer/Surgical Robotics - OTTAVA

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

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 MedTech, 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. Learn more at jnj.com 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. 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 surgery? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Surgery team will give you the chance to deliver surgical technologies and solutions to surgeons and healthcare professionals around the world. Your contributions will help effectively treat some of the world’s most prevalent conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Patients are waiting. Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/medtech Job Description Johnson & Johnson RAD (Robotics and Digital) is seeking an Software Application Engineer. You are part of a Digital Manufacturing team focused on delivering smart-factory solutions and analytics that enable scalable automation across manufacturing operations. In this role you will build edge-to-cloud applications, APIs, dashboards, and integrations with edge devices, OT systems(PLCs, robots, vision) and enterprise platforms (MES, Cloud analytics). You will design and deploy novel solutions and orchestration of new applications include digital twins, agentic agents that automate repetitive digital tasks, coordinate workflows across systems, and enable human-in-the-loop decisioning. You’ll partner across Manufacturing engineering, Operations, Quality, J&J Technology and R&D to unlock efficiency and accelerate cost, quality and reliability improvements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical/Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineering, or a related field.
Minimum of 4 years of professional software development experience.
Hands-on experience with one or more programming languages relevant to industrial automation (e.g., Python, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript).
Experience with integration technologies and APIs (RESTful services, WebSockets, MQTT, OPC UA).
Experience (or strong interest) in edge computing, containerization (Docker), and deploying services to cloud and/or edge platforms.
Experience with data visualization tools and dashboards (e.g., Power BI, AWS QuickSight, or custom web UIs).
Experience (or strong interest) in automating digital workflows (designing bots, building workflows, handling exceptions).
Foundational knowledge of agentic/autonomous software concepts (task planning, action selection, human-in-the-loop controls) or a strong willingness to learn.
Strong troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and debugging skills across software, networking, and device interfaces.
Strong written and verbal communication skills for documentation, training, and stakeholder engagement.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with agent orchestration frameworks, LLM APIs, or tools for building autonomous agents (prompt engineering, tool integration, evaluation).
Basic understanding of industrial automation devices and concepts (PLCs, HMIs, robot controllers, sensors).
Knowledge of CI/CD for application delivery, infrastructure as code, and automated testing.
Basic SQL skills or familiarity with time-series databases/data stores and data pipeline troubleshooting.
Experience working in regulated environments (medical device and/or pharmaceutical) and familiarity with documentation and validation practices.
Understanding of model governance, auditability, and responsible-use considerations for autonomous agents in production environments.
Familiar with Nvidia Omniverse, Nemotron is a plus

Responsibilities

Build and maintain digital manufacturing applications (edge services, APIs/microservices, and web dashboards).
Integrate OT/IIoT systems (PLCs, robots, vision, AMRs) with cloud and enterprise platforms (e.g., MES, data lake, analytics) using standard industrial protocols and APIs (OPC UA, MQTT, REST).
Design and deploy automation solutions (RPA, agent-based workflows, and LLM/RAG-enabled assistants) with human-in-the-loop controls, safety gates, and auditable logs.
Operate and scale solutions through lifecycle management (scheduling, versioning/rollback, monitoring/observability) and reusable documentation/runbooks.
Plan and execute testing and deployment activities (FAT/SAT, commissioning, run-at-rate) and produce validation documentation, as applicable.
Develop performance dashboards and analytics (OEE, cycle time, quality KPIs, anomaly detection) and measure automation outcomes (task success rate, error rate, time saved, time to insights).
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Quality, IT/Cybersecurity, R&D, and external partners to ensure secure deployments and rapid issue resolution through root-cause analysis.

Benefits

Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees and/or eligible dependents are eligible to participate in the following Company sponsored employee benefit programs: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, business accident insurance, and group legal insurance.
Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees are eligible to participate in the Company’s consolidated retirement plan (pension) and savings plan (401(k)).
This position is eligible to participate in the Company’s long-term incentive program.
Subject to the terms of their respective policies and date of hire, Employees are eligible for the following time off benefits:
Vacation –120 hours per calendar year
Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year
Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year
Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year
Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child
Condolence Leave – 30 days for an immediate family member: 5 days for an extended family member
Caregiver Leave – 10 days
Volunteer Leave – 4 days
Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours