Being an Engineer S7E10 Daniel Gledhill | How to Win at People-Centered Leadership in Engineering Teams
Daniel Gledhill is a seasoned manufacturing and engineering leader whose career bridges high-risk industrial operations and precision-driven medical device manufacturing. Daniel leads engineering teams responsible for multiple production areas supporting transcatheter heart valve delivery systems—products where quality, reliability, and patient safety are absolutely critical.
Daniel’s journey to medical devices began in heavy industry, where he worked as a process, chemical, and metallurgical engineer at Rio Tinto, including leadership roles at copper smelters overseeing sulfuric acid plants, powerhouses, and byproduct operations. These early roles shaped his systems-level thinking, comfort with complex processes, and respect for disciplined operations—skills that would later translate powerfully into regulated medical manufacturing environments.
Over nearly ten years at Edwards Lifesciences, Daniel has progressed from manufacturing management into senior engineering leadership, guiding teams through scale-up, process improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and organizational change. His work sits at the intersection of engineering, manufacturing, quality, and leadership—where decisions directly impact both operational performance and patient outcomes.
Daniel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah, along with an MBA from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. This combination of technical and business education informs his balanced approach to leadership—one that values data, people, and long-term system health over short-term wins.
In this conversation, we explore what it really means to lead engineering teams in medical device manufacturing, how leadership expectations evolve as engineers move into management, and what lessons from heavy industry can sharpen execution in highly regulated, patient-critical environments.
LINKS:
Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-gledhill-a6155237/
Guest website: https://www.edwards.com/
Aaron Moncur, host
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