What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal Human Factors Engineer position at Delve?
As a Principal Human Factors Engineer, you'll work in collaboration with our digital and physical design teams, strategists, and engineering team to ensure that products are designed with HF best practices in mind and are ultimately safe and effective for use by the end-user. You will guide your colleagues and our clients to be compliant with usability regulatory standards and guidance across the globe. You will ensure the Human Factors viewpoint is represented throughout the design process and will lead by example, be the primary vision holder for early-stage projects, and mentor junior members of the team.
Responsibilities
- Integrate and lead multi-disciplinary teams, especially on the front-end of the design process, while providing technical Human Factors oversight
- Be comfortable driving the vision of projects, negotiating hurdles, and plotting a new course when necessary.
- Communicate the human factors process and perspectives to internal and external stakeholders.
- Design, execute, and report on early-stage research (contextual inquiry) through user validation research (summative) on physical and/or digital products.
- Work with systems, quality, and regulatory to translate research results into actionable design recommendations and HF documentation (e.g. User Needs, task analyses, uFMEAs, use specifications, and HFU/UE reports).
- Ensure that FDA & global usability regulatory standards such as IEC 62366-1: 2015, ANSI/AAMI HE75, and EU MDR) are being met and that project teams are working within these standards and guidelines.
- Interact with a wide range of user groups (from patients to surgeons) in a variety of use environments.
- Assist the team in preparing Human Factors Engineering proposals and budgets.
- Partner with strategists and designers to frame early innovation challenges, translating user, market, and technology insights into clear opportunity areas and design criteria.
- Lead or contribute to activities such as experience mapping, opportunity framing, and co-creation workshops that shape product and portfolio direction.
- Bridge early-stage strategy and downstream Human Factors practice, ensuring continuity from vision through design execution and usability validation.
Requirements
- An advanced degree in human factors, HCI, biomedical engineering, industrial engineering, cognitive psychology, or related discipline.
- At least 10 years of hands-on, professional applied human factors engineering experience in product design.
- Experience with FDA and IEC medical device development HF standards.
- Ability to travel up to 30% either on your own or as part of a team and feel confident leading research and design teams wherever you're operating.
- A minimum of 1 day per week in the Philadelphia studio with more often required due to studies or projects
Preferred Qualifications
What we are looking for:
- A strategic thinker with experience collaborating across design and engineering, in a consulting environment.
- Someone with a true passion for human-centered product design
- A service-oriented leader who supports and elevates the people around them.
- A team member who listens well and values input from diverse stakeholders.
- A professional committed to high standards of quality and craftsmanship.
- A self-motivated individual who can work independently with minimal oversight.
- An established thought leader in the Human Factors community.
- An excellent communicator with strong writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
- Someone who leads with an inclusive mindset and models inclusive behaviors across the organization.
Be Inspired. Be Inspiring. Be yourself.
Delve embraces difference because creativity, curiosity, and diversity drive innovation. We nurture a supportive and inclusive environment. Be yourself and create a future that improves lives. We encourage applicants of color and those with diverse lived experiences to apply.
About Delve
Delve is a product innovation services firm. We partner with ambitious teams to bring step change innovations to market in industries where the challenges are simultaneously complex, constrained, and consequential. By blending breakthrough creativity with rigorous de-risking and a deep focus on organizational alignment, we help our clients define, envision, and develop innovations that deliver real business impact.
Delve operates studios in Boston, Madison, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, and partners with leading companies including Abbott, GE HealthCare, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Kohler, P&G, and Stryker. Learn more at Delve.com.