Director of R&D – Medical Devices | Ireland

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced R&D leader to join a rapidly growing medical device organisation that has recently established operations in Ireland. This senior leadership role will be instrumental in building and scaling innovation capabilities while leading global product development initiatives across complex interventional technologies.

The successful candidate will play a key role in shaping the future direction of R&D, driving technical excellence, and developing high-performing international engineering teams within a collaborative and innovation-focused environment.

The Opportunity

As Director of R&D, you will lead international research and development programmes from concept through commercialisation, ensuring alignment with strategic business objectives and global market needs. You will work closely with executive leadership, engineering, quality, operations, and commercial teams to deliver innovative medical technologies to market.

This role offers the opportunity to influence both technology strategy and organisational growth while establishing a world-class engineering and innovation culture within a dynamic and expanding business.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee international R&D programmes, ensuring successful execution against business objectives, timelines, and regulatory requirements.
• Build, structure, and develop high-performing global engineering teams capable of delivering complex medical device technologies.
• Foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and first-principles engineering.
• Partner closely with commercial and strategic marketing teams to define patient and clinician needs and translate them into differentiated product solutions.
• Drive technical innovation initiatives that create long-term business value and competitive advantage.
• Provide leadership across complex product development activities involving sophisticated manufacturing and assembly processes.
• Proactively identify and mitigate technical and project risks across multiple concurrent programmes.
• Collaborate cross-functionally on strategic planning, problem-solving initiatives, invention reviews, complaint investigations, and business-critical decision making.
• Support and champion ISO 13485 quality system compliance, including readiness for internal and external audits.
• Maintain strong communication and alignment with global leadership and engineering teams across multiple regions.

• Degree qualified in Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical, Materials Engineering, or related discipline. Advanced qualification preferred.
• 10+ years’ leadership experience within the medical device sector, with a strong background in areas such as structural heart, electrophysiology, neurovascular, peripheral vascular intervention, or related interventional technologies.
• Demonstrated success leading international and cross-functional R&D teams within complex, fast-paced environments.
• Proven ability to translate strategic vision into executable development programmes and deliver results.
• Strong understanding of product development processes for highly engineered medical devices involving complex manufacturing and assembly techniques.
• Experience operating within ISO 13485 regulated environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and leadership skills with the ability to influence globally.
• Passion for innovation, team development, and creating a collaborative, high-performance culture.

• Opportunity to join a growing organisation at a pivotal stage of expansion in Ireland.
• Senior leadership role with significant influence on technology strategy and business growth.
• Collaborative and innovation-driven culture.
• Exposure to cutting-edge interventional medical device technologies.
• Attractive executive compensation package and long-term career progression opportunities.