Engineering Director, Focal Therapies

Intuitive; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive in Sunnyvale, California is looking for an Engineering Director, Focal Therapies to lead cross-functional teams in developing new robotic platforms and instruments from concept to launch.

The role requires deep technical depth in medical robotics, strong people-management across multiple programs, and a patient-first approach to product development and verification. You will guide strategy, design, and execution in a fast-paced, high-energy environment.

Qualifications

• Experience leading medical robotics or complex tech product development.
• Ability to manage multiple managers and programs.
• Strong patient-first product definition and engineering expertise.

Responsibilities

• Set long-term strategic technical product vision aligning goals with business priorities.
• Direct HW/SW and Systems development across multiple programs.
• Own and lead multiple technical product teams through early-stage de-risking and development.
• Define performance expectations and ensure cross-team communication.
• Represent program status with customers and senior leadership.

Skills

People leadership

Cross-functional teams

Hardware engineering

Software engineering

Product requirements

Project management

Job description

Job Description

Primary Function of the Position

The Engineering Director, Focal Therapies will report to the Senior Director, Advanced Product Development, Focal Therapies, who oversees the new Focal Therapies Platform in Future Forward. Future Forward is responsible for integrating new technologies and capabilities into new and existing Intuitive products aligned with our patient first mission. This is a unique opportunity to lead cross-functional teams focused on developing new solutions to address significant unmet patient needs.

The Engineering Director, Focal Therapies leads the strategy, design, development, documentation, and verification of new and derivative complex robotic platforms, flexible medical instruments, and system accessories in support. The will take full ownership of end-to-end technical development from early concept through launch. They will lead multiple managers and are responsible for helping lead the identification and creation of product requirements and driving the design, development, project schedules, and product performance against those requirements as well as the management of multiple groups of managers and engineers to ensure efficient product development that meets market, patient, user, and business needs. The successful candidate will coordinate team efforts across multiple projects, manage personnel efficiently, and ensure project milestones are met despite time constraints and evolving information typical of new product development.

In addition to being a proven people leader, success in this role will require strong patient-focused product definition and engineering acumen within the area of medical robotics and instrumentation. Previous experience successfully managing the development of medical technologies from early concept to product readiness is essential for success in this role.

The successful candidate must have substantial people-management experience across multiple teams or programs, strong technical depth in relevant areas, and a proven track record leading complex product development efforts to successful outcomes. They must excel in a high-energy, focused, team environment, and have a commitment to high quality products with a patient first focus.

Key Responsibilities

• Set long-term strategic technical product vision aligning team goals with business priorities
• Direct the HW/SW, Systems technical development of multiple programs concurrently, including oversight for early stage NPI, Supply chain and test engineering.
• Own and lead multiple technical product development teams through early-stage de-risking, product development, and business validation of priority product opportunities, using resource aligning, goal setting and tracking, career growth, performance management, hiring, budgeting and spend management.
• Set direction for hardware and software engineering teams on the best methods to satisfy and verify design requirements, ensuring design outputs are successfully integrated into effective system designs across programs.
• Define performance expectations and ensure effective communication across all team levels
• Anticipate roadblocks and remove silos for seamless execution of priorities
• Represent program status ably in interactions externally with key customer collaborators and internally within the company.
• Provide regular updates to senior leadership through informal and formal meetings and communication.
• Be a member of the leadership team of Future Forward Growth Opportunities.