Senior Program Manager, R&D

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We are searching for the best talent to join our Vision team as a Senior Program Manager R&D located in Milpitas CA.

Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology were developing the next generation of smarter less invasive more personalized treatments.

Are you passionate about improving and expanding the possibilities of vision treatments Ready to join a team thats reimagining how vision is improved Our Vision team solves the toughest health challenges. Help combine cutting-edge insights science technology and people to encourage eye care professionals and patients to proactively protect correct and enhance healthy sight for life. Our products and services address these needs from the pediatric to aging eye in a patients lifetime.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at The Senior Program Manager is responsible for end-to-end leadership and delivery of global new product development programs with a specialized mandate to lead Vision R&D initiatives (computer vision imaging systems and ML-based vision solutions). This role is the execution owner and integrator for highly matrixed cross-functional teams ensuring programs are strategically aligned delivered on schedule and within budget and meet rigorous quality safety and regulatory requirements in a regulated healthcare environment. Working closely with Technical Leads Data Scientists Systems Engineers Clinical and Regulatory stakeholders and Business Leaders the Senior Project Manager translates strategy into disciplined execution identifies and mitigates technical and programmatic risk and drives outcomes that benefit patients customers and the enterprise. This role demonstrates strong business judgment fosters collaboration upholds compliance and quality standards and leads with a Credo-based patient-centric mindset.

You will:

End-to-End Vision R&D Program Leadership

• Lead complex global Vision R&D programs from concept through commercialization including imaging hardware optics embedded software/firmware and machine learning components.

• Own program execution for vision-enabled products and features ensuring alignment to business strategy platform objectives data governance and quality/regulatory expectations.

• Define and manage roadmap deliverables success metrics and acceptance criteria specific to vision systems (e.g. accuracy robustness explainability latency power/thermal constraints on embedded platforms).

• Coordinate cross-functional design and integration activities across optics sensor selection and characterization data collection & annotation model training/validation MLOps edge/cloud deployment and clinical validation.

Program Planning Execution & Governance

• Develop and maintain integrated project artifacts:

  • Project charter scope technical and clinical acceptance criteria

  • Detailed schedules and stage-gate milestones (GNPP) with embedded ML/vision specific milestones (data readiness annotation plan model freeze transfer to verification)

  • Budget and resource forecasts including external vendor and labeling partner plans

  • Risk issue and dependency management plans (algorithm drift dataset bias hardware-software integration risks)

• Apply disciplined project management governance and stage-gate rigor to deliver predictable high-quality outcomes in regulated environments.

• Prepare and present clear data-driven program updates and GNPP stage gate materials to senior management and executive sponsors.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Influence

• Act as primary program point-of-contact partnering with:

  • Technical Leads (vision algorithms optics embedded/firmware systems integration)

  • Data Science/ML Engineering (data strategy model validation performance monitoring)

  • Functional Managers (resource planning procurement external partners)

  • Clinical Regulatory Quality and Manufacturing teams for validation and commercialization

• Facilitate effective collaboration across R&D Clinical Quality Regulatory Operations and Commercial functions to enable timely decision-making and release readiness.

• Lead program meetings to drive clarity accountability and timely resolution of actions.

Risk Issue & Problem Resolution

• Proactively identify program technical regulatory data and operational risks (including algorithmic bias data privacy model performance under varied conditions).

• Lead cross-functional risk mitigation and recovery plans; negotiate trade-offs and escalate appropriately.

• Ensure plans for post-market surveillance and model performance monitoring are defined and actionable.

Quality Compliance & Enterprise Mindset

• Ensure programs comply with Design Control Regulations quality systems and applicable standards (e.g. ISO 13485 IEC 62304/62366 ISO 14971) and regulatory requirements for vision-enabled medical products and SaMD where applicable.

• Advocate for appropriate allocation of budget and resources aligned to program priorities and enterprise value.

• Promote data privacy security and ethical AI practices (data governance labeling standards consent de-identification).

• Model Johnson & Johnson leadership behaviors (integrity accountability inclusion) and support environmental health safety and sustainability policies.

• Mentor and provide oversight to junior project managers and team members; contribute to capability building for Vision R&D project practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Engineering Business or a Science related field required
• Advanced degree or Project Management certification (PMP or equivalent) preferred
• 10 years of professional experience with a strong emphasis on project or program management in regulated environments (medical devices highly preferred)
• Experience coordinating hardware-software integration (sensors/optics embedded systems) and managing external vendors/partners (labeling vendors cloud providers contract manufacturers)
• Proven track record leading complex cross-functional technical teams by influence in a global matrixed organization
• Deep understanding of product development lifecycles design controls risk management and regulatory expectations for vision-enabled and software-driven medical products
• Strong stakeholder management executive communication and presentation skills comfortable driving decisions at senior leadership levels
• Ability to balance speed quality compliance cost and technical risk to drive pragmatic outcomes
• Demonstrated resilience sound judgment and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Experience with data privacy/compliance requirements relevant to healthcare data (e.g. HIPAA awareness) and ethical AI practices strongly preferred
• Experience in ophthalmology project management preferred

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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 and 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 email the Employee Health Support Center () or contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

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Manager