Senior Mechatronics Engineer
Thoratec Switzerland GmbH is part of the medical device division of Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 500 company with over 115,000 employees worldwide. We are the global market leader for implantable and extracorporeal blood pumps based on magnetic levitation technology. Our life-saving systems, which we develop and manufacture in Zurich, are designed for advanced heart failure patients requiring short- or long-term circulatory support.
Our location in the heart of Zurich employs around 130 individuals across the development, quality, and production areas of the CentriMag System and the HeartMate 3. We are seeking a motivated and talented Senior Mechatronics Engineer to join our R&D team in Zurich. Become part of an aspiring team responsible for developing the next generation of centrifugal blood pumps and circulatory support systems, as well as supporting manufacturing engineering and quality teams to sustain production of on-market products.
About the Role
This role is ideal for an engineer with expertise in electromagnetic motor design, control systems, and electrical engineering, who enjoys working on complex, regulated medical devices that directly impact patient outcomes. You will play a key technical role in the design, modeling, and control of electromagnetically driven motors used in blood pumps, collaborating closely with systems, firmware, and verification teams to bring innovative products from concept through commercialization.
In this position, you will ensure that these life-saving products remain at the forefront of innovation and meet the highest industry standards. Your role will involve interfacing and collaborating with cross-functional teams in both Switzerland and the United States.
Main Responsibilities
- Design, develop, and optimize electromagnetic motors for implantable and extracorporeal blood pump medical devices; experience with magnetically levitated systems is a strong plus.
- Develop and evaluate motor concepts and topologies, balancing performance, controllability, size constraints, manufacturability, and long-term reliability.
- Perform electromagnetic and thermo-magnetic analyses, including FEM-based simulations, to optimize torque, efficiency, losses, thermal performance, and stray magnetic fields.
- Model and optimize key loss mechanisms (copper, iron, eddy current, and control-related losses), and conduct system-level efficiency and thermal trade-off studies.
- Translate analytical and simulation results into concrete design improvements and correlate predictions with experimental and prototype test data.
- Develop and analyze motor control strategies (current, speed, torque, and position control) to ensure stable and precise pump operation.
- Collaborate closely with power electronics and firmware teams to integrate motor drives, sensing, and feedback systems.
- Support system integration, test definition, characterization testing, and root-cause analysis across motor, electronics, and control domains.
- Collaborate with suppliers and manufacturing partners on motor components and build processes.
- Support sustaining projects for on-market products, including obsolescence projects, complaint investigations, and corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs).
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field (ETH/FH or comparable education).
- 5+ years of experience in new product development for medical devices, ideally active implantable or life-sustaining Class 2 or Class 3 devices.
- Strong background in electromagnetics, motor design, and motor control, including hands-on experience with motor drives, power electronics, and embedded control systems.
- Solid understanding of control systems theory, including linear control, stability analysis, feedback systems, PID control, and state space concepts.
- Proficiency with modeling and analysis tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink, electromagnetic simulation software).
- Experience in design, verification, and validation under medical design controls (ISO 13485 and FDA 21 CFR 820) and standards (IEC 60601; ISO 14971).
- Strong technical writing and communication skills; ability to collaborate with a cross-functional project team (Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, etc.).
- English proficiency is required (English is used in meetings and all documentation).
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with design and manufacturing of motors.
- Experience conducting or supporting reliability testing (long-term endurance testing).
- Prior collaboration with FDA or notified bodies during submissions or audits.
- Familiarity with Windchill (PLM and Change Control system), Altium (PCB Design), and Solidworks (CAD).
- Knowledge of statistical methods, techniques, and statistical software tools.
- Communicative German is a plus.
We look forward to meeting you in the heart of Zurich! Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.