How to build a career in Medical Technology

Medical Devices, Medical Technology, MedTech, or as LinkedIn likes to put it, “Medical Equipment Manufacturing”. According to a report by MedTech Europe¹, quoting the WTO, there are over 2 million medical technologies broadly categorised into 7000 generic groups.

We have all been around medical devices our entire lives, though perhaps not always recognising them as such. While we may immediately think of diagnostic devices such as X-Ray Machines, CT Scanners, or maybe syringes, “Medical Technologies” includes anything ranging from plasters and bandages to surgical beds and forceps, to thermometers and homecare devices such as dialysis machines.

Medical Devices, like pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies, are highly regulated.

Getting your medical device through a certification process is a daunting task, and requires the collaboration of skilled professionals executing their work in varied disciplines. This includes the Regulatory Affairs department, who oversee the documentary submissions and monitor regulations, but before you can even get to this point, an R&D team (and quite possibly, an inventor) have designed your device and ensured it meets regulatory requirements. Then, it must be put through rigorous study and testing in a clinical setting through the work of the Clinical Affairs team.

Despite the complex regulatory and economic landscape, the Medical Technology industry is continuing to grow and innovate. According to MedTech Europe, the average growth rate of the Medical Device Market over the last 10 years was 5.4%, showing resilience through challenges. COVID-19 played a significant role in the downtrend between 2019 and 2021, due to several factors, including the postponement of elective surgeries.

IVDs currently represent about a fifth of the global Medical Device market, and according to Statista, In Vitro Diagnostics are projected to grow to over 188 billion USD by 2030².

Another important market is Digital Health, worth 170 billion USD globally in 2024 (which is nearly the size of the total US Medical Device market, approx. 197.83 billion USD), has also seen prominence through the emergence of telemedicine, AI-powered solutions and wearables. Innovation is a hallmark of the Medical Device industry. In 2023, 15,985 patents (57% acceptance rate) were filed in Europe for Medical Devices, second only behind digital communications with 17,749. Comparatively, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology respectively, had 9,273 (30% acceptance) and 8,367 (31% acceptance) filed the same year – still top 10, but not quite on the podium.

As mentioned in our article on Building a career in medical device sales, the global medical device market is currently 518.46 billion USD and is projected to grow to USD 314.96 billion by 2032, in the US alone. MedTech offers great opportunities for a vast range of professionals, including biomedical engineers, scientists, nurses, and even some roles without the requirement of a degree or with an unrelated background.

As we just established, a career in Medical Technology can have many different faces. When talking about MedTech, the first job that comes to everyone’s mind, and that you might consider – in addition to working in sales – is medical technologist. However, that is actually somewhat unrelated to medical devices, albeit just as cool – in that case, you would be working in a laboratory, testing blood, tissue, and other body fluids to help diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases.

In the case of MedTech companies, there are many different roles offering vastly different career paths, growth opportunities and salary potential.

Generally speaking, you will need some sort of degree or certification to get into these roles.

We can broadly divide the job roles in a few different sections.

All of the roles discussed above offer vastly different career paths, growth opportunities and salary potential.

As mentioned, not all of these roles require a degree. In some cases, particularly in the most regulated environments, stringent regulations apply and therefore certifications and degrees are necessary.

In roles such as sales and marketing, there is a greater focus on personality, and relevant commercial experience or a related clinical background can be highly regarded despite potentially lacking a bachelor’s degree.

Many companies offer degree programs in collaboration with universities, meaning you can start working at your favourite medical technology company while writing your dissertation and just continue working there after you graduate. This is a 3-5 year path to being a Junior Product Manager, Junior Sales Rep or Human Factors Engineering Associate.

Many radiology technicians and operating room nurses transition to medical technology at some point in their careers, having interacted with sales representatives and clinical specialists throughout their lives. Some companies hire young nurses with 1 or 2 years of experience to continue educating them in structured programs tailored to their specific product and therapy. Other companies hire experienced nurses, who are experts in the clinical discipline at hand.

Medical Affairs professionals are most likely medical doctors, so they probably have over a decade of studies and practical experience before this can become a viable option.

A bachelor’s degree generally takes three years to complete, while a full cycle with a master’s degree is generally five years. Hence, most engineering roles will require at least a BSc, but might well require postgraduate education.

Sometimes, you may not achieve the desired progression due to a lack of open positions above you to fill, especially if you are working in an SME (a company employing fewer than 50 people, which make up 90% of Medical Technology companies in Europe). Perhaps you have finally finished that CE mark submission after years of careful work. Maybe that’s the time to think about a new challenge.

Hypnosis aside, the career progression in the Medical Technology industry is exceptional. While certain people love being a Territory Manager or Medical Affairs Manager for many years, there is the real possibility to grow to a new role within three to five years, regardless of which function you are working in. The natural progression is often to lead a team of people who do what you were doing before you were leading a team, but this does not always have to be the case.

There are many opportunities to take on strategic responsibility, further expand physician relationships or become a leading subject-matter expert in a particular functional area. C-Level executives can come from any job function, but the most visible in Medical Technology companies are frequently Chief Technology Officers, Chief Commercial Officers, Chief Marketing Officers or Chief Medical Officers, who may have a more obvious impact on the organisation.

Sometimes when growth is limited, a change of scenery can be beneficial. There is no right or wrong way to progress. You could, for example, start as an R&D engineering intern after your bachelor’s degree, and discover you have a knack or propensity for communication and product strategy, so you may be inclined to go into a more market-facing position, allowing you to transition to technical product management, marketing and taking a more commercial route to leadership.

Each role brings its own challenges. Field-based roles require extensive travel, and depending on the specifics, the assigned territory may range from a small region or city to the entire DACH or EMEA region, with travel time often accounting for between 60% and 80% of the time. Regulatory Affairs can be a challenging environment due to the required precision and in-depth knowledge of regulations to ensure that important medical innovations are brought to market.

Conversely, working in Medical Technology can be extremely rewarding as new technologies and therapy options allow better patient outcomes, sometimes completely changing the lives of patients.

However, there is also a clear financial advantage to joining a company in the Medical Technology sector.

For instance, based on the data compiled in the Michael Page Switzerland Salary Guide 2025, it is clear that certain job functions earn significantly more in Healthcare & Life Sciences (HLS) as compared to other industries.

Regulatory Affairs: HLS offers notably higher salaries in RA due to global regulatory complexity and more specialised expertise.

R&D: similar salaries across industries, but entry-level roles in HLS may be slightly higher.

Clinical and Medical Affairs: unique to Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals.

Sales: approx. 15-30% higher in HLS.

Marketing/Product Management: approx 20-30% higher in HLS.

So, besides the salary potential, is it actually worth it? Is it a smart career choice? Absolutely yes! You’ll be in a growing industry where innovation is at the forefront. You have increasing demand for medical treatments across an ever-changing landscape, but you have to consider it is not an easy industry due to the reasons we established above regarding regulations, high education requirements in certain functions and potentially significant travel, but at the same time you can have a very impactful role in the health and well-being of patients while not being a healthcare provider yourself. 

You have to be passionate and engaged, you will often have to go the extra mile when clinical professionals and ultimately patients are relying on you, but you can be repaid through unrepeatable successes. Just imagine when that patient’s life has been saved with the heart valve you designed, or can start walking again with the high-tech prosthetic leg you’ve helped push through regulatory approval. There’s something for everyone, and the possibilities are truly endless.

Plus, you’re going to be in an industry poised to nearly double in size by 2032, how much more growth potential do you want?