Boston Scientific: Three decades shaping Irish medtech
An aerial view of Boston Scientific’s Cork site, reflecting decades of investment in people, innovation and advanced manufacturing.
Boston Scientific has been part of the fabric of the Irish medtech industry for more than 30 years.
While its scale is significant, what truly defines the company is the people behind the work.
From Cork to Clonmel to Galway, with a workforce of more than 8,000 in Ireland, Boston Scientific helps design and manufacture medical technologies that help patients all over the world, often in life-saving and life-enhancing procedures.
Since first establishing operations in Ireland in 1994, Boston Scientific has grown to become the country’s largest life sciences employer. This growth has been driven by sustained investment, long-term collaboration with the Irish Government, and the IDA, and a culture that places people, innovation and wellbeing at its core. Today, the Irish operation plays a critical role across Boston Scientific’s global network of more than 53,000 employees worldwide.
The Cork site, located on Model Farm Road, has been central to that story since operations began in 1997. Over the years, it has evolved into a highly advanced manufacturing campus, producing approximately 25 million medical devices annually for patients across the globe.
In 2023, Boston Scientific reached a major milestone in Cork, expanding its footprint with the acquisition of a long-unoccupied facility in the IDA Industrial Park. The site is now being transformed through significant investment into a modern, high-tech and advanced manufacturing facility. The redevelopment not only expands production capacity but also breathes new life into a landmark building.
When fully operational later this year, the new facility will serve as a dedicated centre for automated manufacturing, while the original building will increasingly focus on the production of complex and innovative combination chemistry medical therapies. Together, the two buildings will further strengthen Cork’s role as a global centre of excellence within Boston Scientific’s manufacturing network.
Sustainability is deeply embedded in how Boston Scientific operates. The company has set ambitious climate goals, including achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In 2024, the company reached an important goal: supplying its key manufacturing and distribution sites with 100 percent renewable electricity.
In Cork, this commitment is reflected in the design of the new production facility, which incorporates a fully decarbonised energy system alongside a range of technologies designed to reduce energy use and emissions. These measures improve manufacturing processes and support environmentally responsible operations.
Equally important is the Cork site’s reputation as a place where people want to work and grow. This is underpinned by a deep commitment to employee wellbeing, ensuring people feel cared for, supported and valued at work.
The facility has received multiple awards recognising both operational excellence and employee wellbeing, including the IBEC’s KeepWell Award for Large Company of the Year in 2025.
The Cork site has also been awarded the Shingo Prize, an internationally recognised and rare distinction that places it among a select group of organisations demonstrating world-class operational excellence, something the company remains deeply proud of.
These recognitions reflect a consistent focus on building an environment where people feel empowered, supported, valued and confident to perform at their best daily.
“What makes the Cork site truly special is our people and the culture we’ve built together,” said Sinead O’Neill, Site VP of Operations for Boston Scientific’s Cork site. “I am personally invested in what this team has created and incredibly proud of how far we’ve come.
“During my 28 years with the company, we’ve continued to reinvent ourselves, always pushing to stay best-in-class across our network, driven by a strong commitment to innovation.
“Our work impacts the lives of more than 14 million patients globally each year, which gives real meaning to what we do. Having the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life every day is a responsibility and a privilege that not everyone has, and it’s something we’re incredibly proud of as a team.”
“I love the Eureka moments. It’s rewarding when a cross-functional team comes together, identifies challenges, finds new solutions, makes improvements and ultimately delivers for patients. That feeling never gets old,” are the words of Gareth Bell, senior fellow manufacturing engineer at Boston Scientific’s Cork site.
At every level of the organisation, problem-solving and collaboration are at the heart of how Boston Scientific works, bringing people from different disciplines together to tackle complex challenges and deliver real impact for patients around the world.
Having now spent more than a decade with the company, Gareth has played a key role in supporting Boston Scientific’s expansion into advanced, chemistry-based, combination therapies.
Gareth’s work focuses on helping teams solve complex technical challenges, including integrating new products and ensuring the manufacturing processes involved are robust, scalable and ready for commercial launch.
For Gareth, the technical challenge is only part of the story. What really sets Cork apart is the culture behind it. “Even when things are difficult, you never feel on your own,” he says. “You feel supported through the challenge, and you keep learning every day.”
That environment has been central to the career progression of Nora O’Gorman, a senior process chemist who joined Boston Scientific through the company’s graduate programme more than five years ago. Starting out in a Six Sigma - a data-driven method used so work is completed in a consistent, efficient and predictable way - and business excellence role, Nora later transitioned back into chemistry-focused work.
Today, she supports process development and manufacturing for products including hydrogels and embolic devices, which are used to treat conditions such as prostate cancer.
“I love combining the problem-solving skills I’ve developed at Boston Scientific with what I learned in college and applying them to complex chemistry-related work,” said Nora.
Both Gareth and Nora describe a culture where people actively invest in one another’s growth. For Gareth, that means building confidence, sharing experience and “passing the torch” to the next generation.
For Nora, it shows up in day-to-day support from managers and colleagues who are always willing to help. “If someone can’t help you on a particular problem,” she says, “they’ll always find someone who can.”
That same culture of support and collaboration is equally evident on the manufacturing floor. Emily Stack, a maintenance technician, joined Boston Scientific straight out of college in 2024 and continues to develop within the company.
Emily’s role spans planned preventative maintenance, rapid response to breakdowns and hands-on problem-solving to keep production running. “The procedures might be the same,” she says, “but the work never is. There’s always something new to figure out, which encourages innovative thinking and a continuous improvement mindset.”
For Emily, the opportunity to learn on the job has been key. She credits experienced colleagues for creating an environment where people are always willing to step in and help. “Everyone’s open to giving a hand,” she explains.
Together, the experiences of Gareth, Nora and Emily reflect a workplace in Cork where cutting-edge technology, purpose and a supportive culture come together to empower people at every stage of their career to grow, learn and make an impact.
