Hopkins ChemBE Career Network

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 2010

Program Overview

The Edwards Lifesciences Technical Development Program (TDP) is now entering its seventh year of successfully identifying and developing top university talent. They’ve hired 41 “TDPs” over the last six years and all have great stories to tell about their exciting and challenging rotations, the peer and mentor relationships they’ve developed, and best of all, the tangible impact they’ve made on the lives of our patients through their work and passion for Edwards mission - “Helping patients is our life’s work and LIFE IS NOW”!

The TDP program offers recent graduates with Bachelors or Masters of Science degrees in Engineering the opportunity to accelerate their career growth in the medical device industry through a broad-based development process that centers on challenging work rotations and training opportunities during an 18 month period. This rigorous program provides outstanding development opportunities and an exciting path to an Engineering Excellence or Technical Leadership career at Edwards Lifesciences. Edwards emphasizes “career” because this program is intended to facilitate Edwards long-term growth as a source of the key talent and energy necessary to the organization to ensure our success.

TDP Rotation Opportunities:

The TDP program provides the opportunity for TDPs to rotate across all businesses and functions and land in a role that is determined to be the best fit for both the TDP and Edwards. The program has been carefully structured to provide experiences that will enable the TDPs to learn about each of the key technical elements within Edwards.
Distinguishing features include:
• Hands-on rotations
• Close collaboration between participants and rotation supervisors
• Cross-functional and multi-product exposure
• Interaction with senior management
• Formal training opportunities
• Ongoing and personalized mentorship

Each TDP Engineer will complete four work rotation assignments. Assignments will typically be seventeen to twenty weeks and in each of the following functional areas:

• Research & Development: These will include technical rotations in Research or New Product Development.
• Manufacturing: These will include rotations in Manufacturing Engineering, Production Supervision, LEAN Manufacturing projects or Supply Chain Management.
• Quality and Regulatory: These will include rotations in Quality Engineering, Quality Control, Quality Systems, Laboratory, and Regulatory Affairs.
• Alternative Functions: Rotations can be from a variety of alternative functions such as Marketing, Clinical Affairs, Discovery, Supply Chain, etc.

The Competitive Advantage:

The key to the TDP experience are the hands-on rotations coupled with structured training opportunities. Program participants have the opportunity to build a record of achievement early in their careers through the various experiences and development each rotation will offer. Developing the broad vision and skills for leadership and technical excellence can be accelerated through this wide exposure to different perspectives and developed network within the company. Because of the depth and breadth of their exposure and training, TDP Engineers emerge from the program extremely well-equipped to assume new areas of responsibility within Edwards.

Looking for Applicants with:

• Leadership capabilities and potential demonstrated through extracurricular activities, employment and/or internship experiences.
• Ability to excel in a team based environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Relevant, hands-on experience (via labs, projects, internship, co-op, etc.).
• Business acumen and global mindset; able to operate across cultures.
• Confident and well-rounded.
• A passion for technology and a commitment to quality.
• Geographic flexibility.

Location:

The TDP program participants will begin their Edwards career at our corporate headquarters in Southern California (Irvine). The majority of all rotations during the program will take place in Irvine; however the possibility of a rotation at one of our other facilities may exist. Similarly, upon successful completion of the program, most participants will fill positions in Irvine, although there is a possibility of taking a position at one of our other facilities. Please refer to the web site, www.Edwards.com, for information on all of our locations.