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Fortune 500 Global MedTech Market Leader, VP R&D, Smart Connected Care
THE CHALLENGE
Our client, a Fortune 500 global MedTech market leader, was looking to make a step-change investment in Smart Connected Care. While the organization had deep strength in traditional R&D, this role required a very different capability set.
They needed a VP of R&D who could operate at the intersection of hardware, software, and algorithms, with enough personal technical depth to credibly guide architectural decisions, while also being capable of building and leading a large, multidisciplinary organization.
This was not a mandate for incremental innovation. The expectation was to deliver first-of-its-kind medical technology that would be meaningful on both a clinical and commercial level. The leader needed to drive ideas from concept through development, regulatory approval, and launch, on time and on budget, within the constraints of a large, matrixed organization.
Many candidates could do aspects of this well. Very few had demonstrated the ability to do all of it.
THE SOLUTION
The success of this search hinged on identifying leaders who had already navigated complexity at scale. Rather than focusing narrowly on traditional MedTech R&D leaders, we stepped back and asked: Where have we seen teams successfully integrate hardware, software, and algorithms into regulated, mission-critical products?
That led us to broaden the aperture to leaders in the technology sector who supported healthcare and other regulated verticals, where product development cycles are longer, quality requirements are higher, and execution discipline matters as much as great product concepts.
As we engaged candidates, we focused on four core questions:
- Depth vs. oversight: Did they personally contribute to technical decision-making in at least one domain, or were they purely organizational leaders?
- First-of-kind delivery: Had they successfully brought genuinely novel products to market, rather than iterating them on established platforms?
- Execution rigor: Could they demonstrate ownership of timelines, budgets, and cross-functional delivery in complex environments?
- Team building: Had they designed and scaled organizations capable of sustained innovation?
Equally important, this role required a leader who could translate between cultures, bridging technology, clinical stakeholders, regulatory teams, the business, and more, and bring those groups together around a common vision.
THE RESULT
The successful candidate came from the technology industry, where they had spent years supporting the healthcare vertical and leading development across hardware, software, and algorithmic systems.
They had a proven track record of delivering first-of-their-kind solutions into regulated environments, with clear evidence of clinical relevance and commercial impact. Just as importantly, they had built and led global teams responsible for taking complex products from early concept through launch and scale.
While their background was outside traditional MedTech, the parallels to our client’s challenge were striking. They had already operated in environments where innovation had to coexist with regulatory burden and slower-moving stakeholders (internally and externally).
The impact
Upon joining, the new VP quickly established credibility across the organization. They brought greater clarity to product architecture decisions, introducing tighter execution discipline into the NPD process, and built a team designed for integrated development rather than disciplinary silos.
Early impact was felt not only in what the organization is working on, but how it works, with a clearer understanding of how to build an organization for connected care R&D and a renewed focus on delivering products that create meaningful value for patients and providers.
