Johnson & Johnson Posted August 21, 2026

Principal Scientist, Clinical Research - MedTech Surgery

Santa Clara, United States Full time
Clinical Development Principal

Johnson & Johnson is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

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:

Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function:

Clinical Development & Research – Non-MD

Job Category:

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America, Santa Clara, California, United States of America

Job Description:

About 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 MedTech surgery? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our MedTech 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://jnjmedtech.com

We are searching for the best talent for a Principal Scientist, Clinical Research, Robotics & Digital Solutions, located in either Santa Clara, California or Cincinnati, Ohio. This is an on-site position that may require up to 25% domestic travel.

Purpose:

Johnson & Johnson MedTech has been working to make surgery better for more than a century. With substantial breadth and depth in surgical technologies, orthopedic and interventional solutions, we seek to improve and enhance medical care for people worldwide. Together, we are working to shape the future of health through differentiated products and services.

Our vision is to use digital technology across the episode of care to improve surgical efficiency, promote better clinical outcomes and increase patient satisfaction. In this position, you will provide scientific leadership for Johnson & Johnson MedTech Surgery's Robotic Surgery Platform, collaborating closely with multi-functional evidence teams, including Medical, Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health Economics and Market Access.

You will be responsible for:

Develop and deliver global evidence generation strategies (pre-and post-market approval studies, investigator initiated, real world evidence) aligned to the needs of R&D, Regulatory, and Commercial

Ensure input and strong alignment from strategically important regional MedTech leads

Design clinical trials to meet the premarket and post-market needs

Strengthen capability in and drive implementation of real-world evidence to deliver efficient evidence solutions

Develop network with key surgeons in US, EU, and APAC to assist in execution of Robotic Surgery clinical trials for registration in all regions

Lead cross-functional teams to interpret and disseminate evidence, including CSRs, abstracts, manuscripts, etc.

Support clinical scientific discussions with regulatory agencies/notified bodies to drive support of the clinical and regulatory strategy, including proposed clinical investigations; review process of clinical evidence generated for marketing authorization, line extensions, etc., including during sponsor regulatory inspections

Provide scientific, technical, and strategic assessment of new business development opportunities and support acquisition of innovative products

Demonstrate the ability to influence, shape and lead teams

Build successful relationships internally and develop partnerships with key business partners and customers/investigators

May require up to 25% domestic travel.

Qualifications / Requirements:

A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Science, Engineering, or a related field is required. An advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) is preferred.

A minimum of 8 years of related scientific / technical experience within Clinical Research required

Expertise in clinical research science and processes along with a broad and extensive understanding of product development processes, team dynamics, related healthcare market environment, clinical trends, and global clinical trial regulations required

Proven track record of contributing to clinical programs within a clinical or surgical research setting, on time, within budget, and in compliance with SOPs and US regulations is required

Preferred:

Experience working in Robotics strongly preferred

Experience in support of global regulatory submissions for medical devices, biologics, or drugs

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 Colorado –48 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

Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year

Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period10 days

Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year

Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year

For more information on how we support the whole health of our employees throughout their wellness, career and life journey, please visit www.careers.jnj.com.

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, please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers or contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

If you are under 18 years of age you (the candidate) may need to obtain the necessary working papers or other documentation required by state law to start the assignment, as well as get a parent’s consent for the background check

#LI-Onsite

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Clinical Evaluations, Coaching, Critical Thinking, Drug Discovery Development, Entrepreneurship, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Leadership, Medicines and Device Development and Regulation, Organizing, Regulatory Affairs Management, Relationship Building, Research Documents, Safety-Oriented, Scientific Research, Standard Scientific Processes and Procedures, Strategic Change, Study Management

The anticipated base pay range for this position is :

$134,000.00 - $231,150.00

Additional Description for Pay Transparency:

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Santa Clara, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 329 comparable Principal Clinical Development roles across 51 biopharma companies.

329Comparable roles tracked
303Currently active
51Companies hiring similar roles
21Countries represented

Salary context

142 of 329 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $134,000/yr – $231,150/yr
Peer group range $90,199 – $392,100 (median $259,448)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 329 comparable roles

United States197
India51
United Kingdom17
Spain11
Poland9
Switzerland7

+ 15 more countries

Seniority mix

329 of 329 peers have a known seniority level

Director187
Senior112
Principal30

Therapeutic area mix

92 of 329 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology41
Neuroscience16
Immunology15
Respiratory6
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Ophthalmology5
Dermatology & Aesthetics2
Rare Disease1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Tarrytown, United States Principal
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Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America Principal
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Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
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Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.