Head Of Engineering Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Head of Engineering roles are among the most actively sponsored positions in the U.S. tech industry. Most require a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, and employers routinely file H-1B visa, O-1 visa, or L-1 visa petitions for qualified candidates leading large engineering organizations. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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iota Biosciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma US, is advancing a new class of bioelectronic medicines through the development of fully implantable Class III medical devices. Our proprietary technologies open therapeutic and diagnostic possibilities not previously accessible to clinicians. Together with Astellas, we are committed to patient-centric design, scientific and engineering excellence, and cross-functional teamwork. These principles guide us in bringing transformative, first-of-its-kind technologies into the clinic and closer to patients.
Role Overview
The Head of Engineering reports directly to the CEO and serves as the company's senior engineering leader and strategic advisor. This role is responsible for ensuring that engineering, manufacturing, and product development efforts are aligned with the company's clinical, regulatory, and commercialization objectives. The Head of Engineering will partner closely with the CEO and executive team to guide major company decisions, assess risks and dependencies, and help the organization navigate the transition from clinical-stage development through PMA and early commercialization. The successful candidate will inherit a strong engineering leadership team and will be expected to elevate organizational effectiveness, strengthen cross-functional execution, and provide experienced leadership through a critical stage of growth. Success in this role will come not from direct ownership of technical architecture, but from enabling strong decision-making across the organization, connecting work across engineering functions, and helping leaders anticipate challenges before they become obstacles. This individual should bring firsthand experience developing and bringing medical devices through PMA pathways, allowing them to provide perspective, identify risks and opportunities, and help the company make informed strategic and long-term investments.
Executive Leadership and Strategic Partnership
- Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Executive Team, helping translate complex engineering and product development topics into actionable business decisions.
- Provide independent judgment on major company decisions, investments, risks, resource allocation, and strategic priorities.
- Represent engineering perspectives in executive, investor, partner, and board-level discussions as appropriate.
- Help the organization make sound tradeoffs between technical risk, regulatory requirements, timelines, cost, manufacturing readiness, and long-term platform strategy.
- Partner with executive leadership to shape product portfolio strategy and roadmap planning, ensuring alignment between near-term milestones and long-term company objectives.
Engineering Leadership
- Lead and further develop iota's engineering leadership team across electrical, firmware, software, systems, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering.
- Provide coaching, mentorship, and leadership support to an already strong group of engineering leaders, helping elevate organizational effectiveness and execution.
- Ensure alignment across engineering functions by identifying dependencies, surfacing risks early, and facilitating effective decision-making.
- Establish clear expectations, accountability, communication, and decision-making frameworks across the engineering organization.
- Partner with engineering leaders to ensure teams remain focused on company priorities while preserving clear ownership of architecture and day-to-day technical decisions within each function.
- Build strong, trusted relationships with engineering leaders and key cross-functional stakeholders.
Product Development, Regulatory, and Commercialization Execution
- Guide engineering activities supporting pivotal clinical studies, PMA submission, approval, and commercialization readiness.
- Leverage prior PMA experience to help the organization anticipate challenges, evaluate tradeoffs, and make informed decisions throughout the product lifecycle.
- Ensure appropriate engineering rigor, design controls, risk management, verification, validation, and development processes are in place.
- Partner closely with Quality, Regulatory, Clinical, Operations, Manufacturing, and Program/Product Management leaders to drive successful execution.
- Support commercialization planning and manufacturing scale-up activities while maintaining product quality and regulatory compliance.
Organizational Development
- Mentor and develop engineering leaders and high-potential talent.
- Build organizational capabilities that scale with company growth.
- Create succession plans and leadership development pathways within the engineering organization.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications
- BS in Engineering or related technical field.
- Willingness to work from our Alameda office approximately three days per week.
- Significant experience developing and bringing medical devices through PMA pathways, with the ability to apply those lessons to strategic planning, risk management, and organizational decision-making.
- Proven success leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations in regulated medical device environments.
- Demonstrated ability to develop strong engineering leaders.
- Strong communication, stakeholder management, and organizational leadership skills.
- Demonstrated ability to build trust and influence across technical and non-technical teams.
- Experience balancing innovation with regulatory, quality, clinical, and business requirements.
- Ability to understand and connect work across multiple engineering disciplines, identify dependencies and risks, and drive alignment across teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Global regulatory experience, including CE Mark and MDR.
- Experience operating in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments where leaders are expected to navigate ambiguity, solve novel problems, and take ownership beyond traditional functional boundaries.
Why Join Us
This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of bioelectronic medicine at a pivotal moment in the company's journey. You will partner directly with the CEO and executive team, guide critical organizational and strategic decisions, help prepare the company for its next phase of growth, and contribute to the development of therapies that have the potential to transform patients' lives. At iota, you'll join a mission-driven team tackling some of the most challenging problems in medicine through a unique combination of scientific innovation, engineering excellence, and patient-centered design.
Compensation Range: $230K - $311K
About us
iota Biosciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma US, is advancing a new class of bioelectronic medicines through the development of fully implantable Class III medical devices. Our proprietary technologies open therapeutic and diagnostic possibilities not previously accessible to clinicians. Together with Astellas, we are committed to patient-centric design, scientific and engineering excellence, and cross-functional teamwork. These principles guide us in bringing transformative, first-of-its-kind technologies into the clinic and closer to patients.
Role Overview
The Head of Engineering reports directly to the CEO and serves as the company's senior engineering leader and strategic advisor. This role is responsible for ensuring that engineering, manufacturing, and product development efforts are aligned with the company's clinical, regulatory, and commercialization objectives. The Head of Engineering will partner closely with the CEO and executive team to guide major company decisions, assess risks and dependencies, and help the organization navigate the transition from clinical-stage development through PMA and early commercialization. The successful candidate will inherit a strong engineering leadership team and will be expected to elevate organizational effectiveness, strengthen cross-functional execution, and provide experienced leadership through a critical stage of growth. Success in this role will come not from direct ownership of technical architecture, but from enabling strong decision-making across the organization, connecting work across engineering functions, and helping leaders anticipate challenges before they become obstacles. This individual should bring firsthand experience developing and bringing medical devices through PMA pathways, allowing them to provide perspective, identify risks and opportunities, and help the company make informed strategic and long-term investments.
Executive Leadership and Strategic Partnership
- Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Executive Team, helping translate complex engineering and product development topics into actionable business decisions.
- Provide independent judgment on major company decisions, investments, risks, resource allocation, and strategic priorities.
- Represent engineering perspectives in executive, investor, partner, and board-level discussions as appropriate.
- Help the organization make sound tradeoffs between technical risk, regulatory requirements, timelines, cost, manufacturing readiness, and long-term platform strategy.
- Partner with executive leadership to shape product portfolio strategy and roadmap planning, ensuring alignment between near-term milestones and long-term company objectives.
Engineering Leadership
- Lead and further develop iota's engineering leadership team across electrical, firmware, software, systems, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering.
- Provide coaching, mentorship, and leadership support to an already strong group of engineering leaders, helping elevate organizational effectiveness and execution.
- Ensure alignment across engineering functions by identifying dependencies, surfacing risks early, and facilitating effective decision-making.
- Establish clear expectations, accountability, communication, and decision-making frameworks across the engineering organization.
- Partner with engineering leaders to ensure teams remain focused on company priorities while preserving clear ownership of architecture and day-to-day technical decisions within each function.
- Build strong, trusted relationships with engineering leaders and key cross-functional stakeholders.
Product Development, Regulatory, and Commercialization Execution
- Guide engineering activities supporting pivotal clinical studies, PMA submission, approval, and commercialization readiness.
- Leverage prior PMA experience to help the organization anticipate challenges, evaluate tradeoffs, and make informed decisions throughout the product lifecycle.
- Ensure appropriate engineering rigor, design controls, risk management, verification, validation, and development processes are in place.
- Partner closely with Quality, Regulatory, Clinical, Operations, Manufacturing, and Program/Product Management leaders to drive successful execution.
- Support commercialization planning and manufacturing scale-up activities while maintaining product quality and regulatory compliance.
Organizational Development
- Mentor and develop engineering leaders and high-potential talent.
- Build organizational capabilities that scale with company growth.
- Create succession plans and leadership development pathways within the engineering organization.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications
- BS in Engineering or related technical field.
- Willingness to work from our Alameda office approximately three days per week.
- Significant experience developing and bringing medical devices through PMA pathways, with the ability to apply those lessons to strategic planning, risk management, and organizational decision-making.
- Proven success leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations in regulated medical device environments.
- Demonstrated ability to develop strong engineering leaders.
- Strong communication, stakeholder management, and organizational leadership skills.
- Demonstrated ability to build trust and influence across technical and non-technical teams.
- Experience balancing innovation with regulatory, quality, clinical, and business requirements.
- Ability to understand and connect work across multiple engineering disciplines, identify dependencies and risks, and drive alignment across teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Global regulatory experience, including CE Mark and MDR.
- Experience operating in fast-paced, resource-constrained environments where leaders are expected to navigate ambiguity, solve novel problems, and take ownership beyond traditional functional boundaries.
Why Join Us
This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of bioelectronic medicine at a pivotal moment in the company's journey. You will partner directly with the CEO and executive team, guide critical organizational and strategic decisions, help prepare the company for its next phase of growth, and contribute to the development of therapies that have the potential to transform patients' lives. At iota, you'll join a mission-driven team tackling some of the most challenging problems in medicine through a unique combination of scientific innovation, engineering excellence, and patient-centered design.
Compensation Range: $230K - $311K
See all 164+ Head Of Engineering Jobs
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Head Of Engineering Jobs
Lead with your scope of impact
Sponsoring employers prioritize candidates who can quantify their leadership. Specify team size, budget ownership, and measurable outcomes like latency improvements or infrastructure cost reductions. Numbers make your petition stronger and your application harder to pass over.
Understand the specialty occupation threshold
H-1B approval for this role hinges on demonstrating the position requires a specific bachelor's degree, not any degree. Engineering leadership roles typically pass this test easily when tied to a technical degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or software engineering.
Target companies with a sponsorship track record
Larger engineering organizations and well-funded startups file sponsorship petitions far more frequently. Search Migrate Mate to filter for employers who have already sponsored Head of Engineering roles rather than hoping a new employer will navigate the process for the first time.
Prepare for the O-1A path if H-1B lottery fails
Senior engineering leaders often qualify for the O-1A extraordinary ability visa. Published work, open-source contributions, conference speaking, and high compensation relative to peers are all recognized criteria. Ask your employer to evaluate both pathways before committing to one.
Get your credentials evaluated if your degree is foreign
USCIS requires that foreign degrees be equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's in the relevant field. A credential evaluation from a recognized agency strengthens your petition significantly, especially for three-year degrees from countries like India, Australia, or the United Kingdom.
Negotiate premium processing from the start
At this seniority level, employers are generally willing to pay for premium processing, which cuts USCIS adjudication to 15 business days. Make premium processing part of your offer negotiation before signing, not an afterthought after your start date is already set.
Frequently Asked Questions
What visa types do companies use to sponsor a Head of Engineering?
The H-1B visa is the most common path, but senior engineering leaders frequently qualify for alternatives. The L-1A covers intracompany transferees in managerial or executive roles. The O-1A covers individuals with extraordinary ability. Employers with Canadian or Australian citizens may use the TN visa or E-3 visa instead, both of which bypass the H-1B lottery entirely.
Is a Head of Engineering role likely to be approved under H-1B specialty occupation rules?
Yes. USCIS consistently approves Head of Engineering petitions when the role requires a specific technical degree and the candidate holds one. The key is the job description: it must demonstrate that engineering judgment, not just general management, is central to the position. Petitions supported by detailed technical responsibilities and a matching degree in computer science or engineering have high approval rates.
Will employers sponsor a Head of Engineering if I'm currently outside the United States?
Many will, though the process takes longer. The employer files the H-1B petition in the U.S., then you complete consular processing abroad rather than adjusting status domestically. For L-1A candidates transferring from an overseas office, the process is often faster. Employers who are familiar with sponsorship are more likely to extend offers to international candidates. Browse Migrate Mate to identify those employers.
Do I need a bachelor's degree in engineering specifically, or will any degree work?
For H-1B purposes, the degree must be in a field directly related to the role. A computer science, software engineering, or electrical engineering degree is straightforward. A business or general management degree alone is unlikely to satisfy the specialty occupation requirement for a hands-on engineering leadership role. Relevant master's degrees in technical fields strengthen the petition further.
How does the H-1B lottery affect my chances of getting sponsored as a Head of Engineering?
The lottery selects registrations randomly, so lottery odds apply regardless of seniority. However, candidates with a U.S. master's degree enter a separate pool with better odds. Employers can also pursue cap-exempt H-1B filings through qualifying nonprofits or universities. If you lose the lottery, your employer may pivot to an O-1A petition, which has no cap and no lottery and is well-suited to senior engineering leaders with a strong public profile.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Head Of Engineering jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.