Principal Electrical Engineer

In addition to electrical engineering leadership, this individual will collaborate closely with mechanical, firmware, software, systems, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, supplier quality, sourcing, and operations teams to ensure safe, reliable, and compliant products throughout their lifecycle. This role is responsible for leading complex electrical engineering activities across sustaining engineering, product enhancements, quality investigations, regulatory compliance, cost optimization, supplier changes, and lifecycle management initiatives.

Primary Talent Partners has a new contract opening for a Principal Electrical Engineer with our medical device client in Plymouth, MN. This is a 12-month contract with a potential for extension.

Pay:$60.00 - $70.00/hr; W2 contract, no PTO, no Benefits. ACA-compliant supplemental package available for enrollment. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States and must be able to sit on Primary Talent Partners W2 without sponsorship.

Work Model: Minimum 4 days per week onsite

Description: 

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.

 

As a Principal Electrical Engineer, you will serve as a recognized technical expert and engineering leader within the Released Product Engineering (RPE) organization supporting ***'s Surgical Hardware portfolio. This role is responsible for leading complex electrical engineering activities across sustaining engineering, product enhancements, quality investigations, regulatory compliance, cost optimization, supplier changes, and lifecycle management initiatives.

 

The successful candidate will possess deep expertise in mixed-signal electronics, system integration, and product development within regulated industries. In addition to electrical engineering leadership, this individual will collaborate closely with mechanical, firmware, software, systems, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, supplier quality, sourcing, and operations teams to ensure safe, reliable, and compliant products throughout their lifecycle.

 
This role requires a systems-thinking mindset, strong technical problem-solving skills, and the ability to influence cross-functional teams while mentoring engineers and driving engineering excellence across the organization.
 

Primary Responsibilities - Technical Leadership

• Serve as the electrical engineering subject matter expert for complex sustaining engineering, quality, compliance, and product enhancement initiatives.
• Lead the design, development, integration, verification, and validation of mixed-signal electrical systems and subsystems used in surgical medical devices.
• Define hardware architectures and technical solutions that balance product performance, reliability, manufacturability, compliance, and cost objectives.
• Review and approve electrical designs, schematics, test plans, engineering changes, and qualification strategies.
• Drive system-level troubleshooting and root cause investigations involving electrical, mechanical, software, and firmware interactions.

 

Product Lifecycle & Sustaining Engineering

• Lead electrical engineering activities supporting released products, including:
  • Design changes and engineering change orders (ECOs)
  • Obsolescence management
  • Supplier-driven changes
  • Lifecycle and End-of-Life (EOL) initiatives
  • Cost reduction and VAVE projects
  • Manufacturing and field quality improvements
• Assess product impacts associated with component, material, and supplier changes and determine requalification requirements.
• Support manufacturing and supplier quality teams in resolving production issues and field-related concerns.

 

Product Quality & Compliance

• Ensure designs comply with applicable standards and regulations, including:
  • IEC 60601-1
  • IEC 60601-1-2
  • IEC 60601-2-2
  • FDA Quality System Requirements
  • ISO 13485
  • Risk Management requirement
• Lead technical assessments and investigations related to customer complaints, CAPAs, nonconformances, audits, and field performance issues.
• Evaluate complaint trends and reliability data to determine if systemic quality issues exist and develop appropriate corrective actions.
• Support EMC, electrical safety, environmental, reliability, and performance testing activities.

 

Design & Development

Perform and oversee:
Circuit design
Schematic capture
PCB layout reviews
Component selection
Design analysis and simulation
System integration
Design verification testin
Develop detailed technical specifications, requirements, test protocols, and engineering documentation.
Ensure hardware designs meet performance, reliability, safety, and manufacturability requirements.

 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

Partner with Systems Engineering, Software, Firmware, Mechanical, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Operations, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing Engineering teams.
Work with external test laboratories, suppliers, consultants, and contract manufacturers as required.
Provide technical leadership during cross-functional design reviews, risk reviews, and business decision-making processes.

 

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

Identify opportunities to improve product performance, reliability, compliance, manufacturability, and cost.
Drive adoption of engineering best practices, tools, and methodologies.
Support platform strategies, design standardization, and technology roadmaps across the Surgical Hardware portfolio.
Contribute to the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies.

Leadership & Talent Development

Mentor and coach electrical engineers and cross-functional team members.
Lead technical reviews and provide guidance on engineering approaches and problem-solving techniques.
Influence technical direction across multiple projects and product platforms.
Serve as a technical leader for major cross-functional initiatives and strategic engineering projects.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related engineering discipline with 7+ years of relevant experience
OR Master's degree with 5+ years of relevant experience

 

Required Technical Experience:

 

Experience with all phases of mixed-signal board design, including:
Architecture development
Circuit design
Schematic capture
Component selection
PCB layout and reviews
Design verification
Strong fundamentals in:
Analog and digital circuit design
Signals and systems
Frequency-domain analysis
Power electronics
System integratio
Experience with OrCAD schematic capture and PCB design tools.
Hands-on experience using laboratory equipment including:
Oscilloscopes
Multimeters
Logic analyzers
Spectrum analyzers
Network analyzer
Experience designing, testing, and troubleshooting high-voltage systems (up to approximately 5 kV).
Experience working within regulated industries, preferably medical devices.
Knowledge of IEC 60601 family of standards and medical device development processes.
Strong root-cause analysis and structured problem-solving skills.
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.

 

Preferred Qualifications

 Experience supporting released products within a medical device environment.
Experience with EMC and electrical safety testing.
Experience with supplier qualification, supplier-driven changes, and component obsolescence management.
Experience leading VAVE and cost optimization initiatives.
Exposure to systems engineering practices and requirements-driven development.
Experience working in Agile product development environments.
Familiarity with Surgical Hardware or electrosurgical products.
Lean, Six Sigma, or A3 problem-solving experience.
Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across organizations. 

Top 3 skills sets required:
 1. Mixed-Signal Electrical Design and Hardware Development

Analog and digital circuit design
Power electronics and high-voltage systems 
Schematic capture, PCB layout reviews, component selection, and design verification
OrCAD and laboratory equipment experience
System integration and electrical troubleshooting

2. Regulated Medical-Device Product Lifecycle Engineering

Sustaining engineering and released-product support
ECOs, obsolescence management, supplier changes, and VAVE
Risk-based impact assessment and requalification decisions
Complaint investigations, CAPA, nonconformances, and field-performance issues
Knowledge of IEC 60601 standards, ISO 13485, FDA requirements, and design controls

3. System-Level Technical Leadership and Cross-Functional Influence

Root-cause analysis across electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software domains
Requirements-driven development and verification strategy
Leadership of technical reviews and complex problem-solving
Effective collaboration with quality, regulatory, manufacturing, suppliers, and operations
Mentoring engineers and influencing technical direction without direct authority

3 main responsibilities/day to day activities required for this role: 

1. Resolve Product Quality, Field, and Manufacturing Issues

Lead electrical and system-level troubleshooting.
Investigate complaints, CAPAs, nonconformances, and reliability concerns.
Perform root-cause analysis with firmware, software, mechanical, quality, and manufacturing teams.
Define corrective actions and support verification of their effectiveness.  

2. Lead Sustaining Engineering and Product Lifecycle Activities

Own ECOs, component obsolescence, supplier changes, EOL activities, and VAVE projects.
Assess product impact, risks, and qualification or validation needs.
Support supplier and manufacturing issue resolution.
Maintain product performance, compliance, cost, and supply continuity throughout the lifecycle.

3. Provide Electrical Design and Technical Leadership

Review schematics, PCB layouts, test protocols, qualification plans, and engineering changes.
Support mixed-signal circuit design, system integration, verification, EMC, and electrical-safety activities.
Lead technical reviews and mentor engineers.
Influence decisions across systems, firmware, software, mechanical, quality, regulatory, suppliers, and operations.

Primary Talent Partners is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity, or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application or at any point in the hiring process, please contact us at info@primarytalentpartners.com

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