Principal Controls Engineer - Advanced… at Medtronic · North…

Principal Controls Engineer - Advanced Manufacturing Engineering
Location: North Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 12 Oct 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
The Principal Controls Engineer serves a critical role within Medtronic's Advanced Manufacturing Engineering organization, providing technical leadership and expertise for complex automation, controls, and manufacturing systems. This position is being added to ensure adequate support for current and future manufacturing initiatives.

Based at Medtronic's North Haven, CT site, this individual will play a key role in advancing the next generation of medical device and robotic-assisted surgical technologies. Working closely with R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, and Operations, the Principal Controls Engineer will lead the development, integration, optimization, and support of automation and control systems that enable new product introduction, manufacturing scalability, equipment reliability, and operational excellence. This role requires deep expertise in controls architecture, PLCs, robotics, machine vision, motion control, and equipment integration, along with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive technical solutions from concept through implementation.

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 5 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.
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Responsibilities may include the following and other duties may be assigned.
Provide technical leadership to engineers, suppliers, and system integrators to ensure automation solutions meet performance, safety, quality, and business requirements.
Design, develop, implement, and support control systems for manufacturing equipment, automated assembly systems, test equipment, and material handling systems.
Lead the integration and optimization of PLCs, HMIs, robotics, motion control systems, machine vision systems, sensors, and industrial networks.
Develop controls architectures, software, and technical requirements to support new equipment, automation projects, and manufacturing process improvements.
Troubleshoot complex automation and equipment issues, perform root cause analysis, and implement corrective actions to improve reliability, quality, and performance.
Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, R&D, and Operations teams to support equipment development, qualification, new product introduction, and manufacturing scale-up activities.
Develop and implement automation, process control, and data collection solutions that improve equipment uptime, operational efficiency, and product quality.
Ensure control systems, equipment, and processes comply with applicable quality, safety, and regulatory requirements.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience
OR Master's degree with a minimum of 5 years relevant experience
OR PhD with a minimum of 3 years relevant experience.
Experience programming and troubleshooting PLCs (Allen Bradley), HMIs (Allen Bradley), and vision systems, including Cognex In-Sight Spreadsheet, Cognex VisionPro, and Keyence technologies.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience supporting automated manufacturing equipment utilizing PLCs, robotics, machine vision systems, or motion control technologies.
Experience supporting new product introduction (NPI), equipment qualification, manufacturing scale-up activities, and validation experience.
Experience in medical device, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other regulated manufacturing environments.
Experience leading controls or automation projects from concept through implementation.
Experience performing root cause investigations and implementing corrective actions for complex equipment or process issues.
Experience working with equipment suppliers, system integrators, or contract manufacturers.
Experience applying risk management or process control tools such as PFMEA, DFMEA, control plans, or hazard analyses.
Experience mentoring engineers or serving as a technical lead for cross-functional engineering teams.
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.
Physical Job Requirements
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position.
The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.
U.S. Work Authorization & Sponsorship
At Medtronic, we are committed to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and make a meaningful impact. In alignment with our enterprise-wide workforce planning approach, 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.
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