Director - Program, Product & Change Management/Surgical Robotics/Ottava

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.

Job Function:

Project/Program Management Group

Job Sub Function:

Project/Program Management

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Santa Clara, California, United States of America

Job Description:

Johnson & Johnson RAD (Robotics and Digital) is seeking for Director, Program, Product & Change Management – OTTAVA, for our Santa Clara, Location.

 

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 where solutions are personalized.

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.

About MedTech Surgery 

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 

Purpose 

This leadership role is responsible for establishing and leading a newly formed organization that serves as the operational backbone connecting product development, supply chain strategy, manufacturing readiness, and lifecycle execution. The team combines Program Management, Product Management, and Manufacturing Change Management capabilities to ensure seamless execution across the entire OTTAVA product lifecycle, from development through commercialization and scale.

The Director will build and lead a high-performing team responsible for driving complex cross-functional programs, owning supply chain product strategies for OTTAVA capital systems, and governing manufacturing changes to enable rapid deployment of improvements while maintaining operational stability. This leader will serve as a key partner to R&D, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Service, Procurement, and Operations leadership.

The successful candidate will bring a blend of strategic thinking, product leadership, program execution excellence, and organizational influence to drive business outcomes in a highly regulated and technically complex environment.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Program, Product & Change Management organization.
• Establish organizational vision, operating model, governance mechanisms, and performance metrics.
• Drive a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer focus.
• Develop talent, succession plans, and organizational capabilities that support long-term OTTAVA growth.

Program Management Leadership

• Provide leadership oversight for critical Surgical Robotics programs that span multiple product subsystems and functions.
• Ensure program objectives, milestones, deliverables, risks, dependencies, and resource requirements are effectively managed.
• Lead cross-functional governance processes and executive-level reviews. Cascade business reviews that provide visibility into program execution.
• Communicate strategic recommendations and drive mitigations of risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs affecting program scope, schedule, cost, or business objectives.
• Drive alignment across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Service, and external partners.
• Escalate and resolve issues that threaten program scope, schedule, cost, or business objectives.

Product Management Leadership

• Establish subsystem-focused product management practices within Supply Chain.
• Ensure product managers serve as the primary supply chain point of contact for their assigned subsystems.
• Drive end-to-end subsystem ownership, including manufacturing strategy, cost optimization, supply continuity, lifecycle planning, and roadmap development.
• Provide continuity of business strategy and product context across multiple development and commercialization programs.
• Partner with engineering and business leaders to translate product requirements into executable supply chain and manufacturing strategies.

Manufacturing Change Management Leadership

• Own the strategy, governance, and operational execution framework for manufacturing change management.
• Ensure robust processes exist for evaluating, prioritizing, implementing, and sustaining manufacturing changes across the organization.
• Drive standardization, streamlining and acceleration of change control methodologies, implementation criteria, and governance practices.
• Oversee ownership and integrity of manufacturing product structures, including manufacturing Bills of Material (mBOM) and associated Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) processes.
• Enable rapid implementation of product, supplier, process, equipment, tooling, and facility changes while minimizing disruption to manufacturing performance.

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior and executive leadership.
• Influence decisions across organizational boundaries without direct authority.
• Build strong partnerships across internal and external stakeholders to achieve business objectives.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Business, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in product development, manufacturing, supply chain, program management, product management, operations, or related disciplines.
• Minimum of 5 years leading managers and cross-functional teams in complex technical organizations.
• Experience leading large-scale cross-functional initiatives from concept through commercialization.
• Demonstrated success managing programs involving multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and significant business impact.
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management, manufacturing operations, and change control processes.
• Experience operating within regulated industries such as Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Aerospace, Automotive, Robotics, or similar environments.
• Proven capability influencing senior leaders and driving organizational alignment across functions.

Preferred

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS, or equivalent).
• Experience supporting capital equipment, robotics, or electromechanical products.
• Experience with new product introduction (NPI), design transfer, and commercialization activities.
• Experience with PLM systems, ERP systems, and manufacturing Bill of Material management.
• Knowledge of FDA, ISO 13485, and other regulated product development and manufacturing environments.
• Certification in Program Management, Project Management, Lean, Six Sigma, or related disciplines.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic mindset with ability to connect long-term business objectives to day-to-day execution.
• Exceptional cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Strong systems thinking and ability to manage organizational complexity.
• Data-driven decision making balanced with sound business judgment.
• Passion for developing people and building high-performing teams.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, rapidly evolving technology environment.

Why This Role Matters

This position will establish and lead a critical capability within OTTAVA Supply Chain, ensuring that major programs remain on track, subsystem strategies remain aligned across the product lifecycle, and manufacturing changes are implemented with both speed and discipline. The role sits at the intersection of product, operations, and execution excellence, helping enable successful commercialization and scale-up of the OTTAVA robotic surgical platform.

Other: 

·       May require up to 10% domestic and/or international travel. 

·       The attendance policy required for this role is Fully Onsite

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, external applicants please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers , internal employees contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation 

 

Required Skills:

 

 

Preferred Skills:

 

 

The anticipated base pay range for this position is :

$177,000.00 to $269,059.00

Additional Description for Pay Transparency:

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  Additional information can be found through the link below.  https://www.careers.jnj.com/employee-benefits