Senior Clinical Development Engineer, Digital

Intuitive; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 186,100 - 267,900; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive in Sunnyvale, CA, is seeking a Senior Clinical Development Engineer for Digital to apply operating-room expertise to the clinical use of the da Vinci system and related products. You will drive clinical validation, partner with engineering, regulatory, and quality teams, and mentor others in complex development workstreams.

The role requires extensive medical-device experience, ability to travel up to 25%, and a track record of translating clinical needs into actionable product

Qualifications

• Experience supporting medical products from design to launch.
• Knowledge of regulated medical device development and validation.
• Experience with OR, simulation, or clinical evaluation settings.

Responsibilities

• Apply in-depth knowledge of the OR and da Vinci systems to clinical applications.
• Serve as the clinical voice for digital and robotic surgery products.
• Lead complex clinical development workstreams and mentor others.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to define requirements and validation plans.

Skills

Medical devices

Clinical collaboration

Surgical terminology

OR experience

Validation plans

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD degree

Job description

Senior Clinical Development Engineer, Digital

• Full-time
• Shift: Day
• Max. Salary Region 2: 227700 USD
• Max. Salary Region 1: 267900 USD
• Ways of Working: Set Schedule - This job will be onsite weekly, the percentage of onsite work will be defined by the leader.
• Employee Type: Employee
• Min. Salary Region 1: 186100 USD
• Global Job Level (HCM): Professional 4 (11)
• Min. Salary Region 2: 158200 USD

It started with a simple idea: what if surgery could be less invasive and recovery less painful? Nearly 30 years later, that question still fuels everything we do at Intuitive. As a global leader in robotic-assisted surgery and minimally invasive care, our technologies—like the da Vinci surgical system and Ion—have transformed how care is delivered for millions of patients worldwide.

We’re a team of engineers, clinicians, and innovators united by one purpose: to make surgery smarter, safer, and more human. Every day, our work helps care teams perform with greater precision and patients recover faster, improving outcomes around the world.

The problems we solve demand creativity, rigor, and collaboration. The work is challenging, but deeply meaningful—because every improvement we make has the potential to change a life.

If you’re ready to contribute to something bigger than yourself and help transform the future of healthcare, you’ll find your purpose here.

Primary Function of the Position

• Apply in-depth knowledge of the operating room environment and of the da Vinci Surgical Systems to become an expert within the company on the clinical application of Intuitive’s products
• Serve as the clinical voice for digital, automated, and robotic surgery products, representing surgeon needs, workflow fit, usability, clinical performance, and patient impact.
• Identify unmet clinical needs through surgeon engagement, OR observation, workflow analysis, competitive assessment, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Partner with engineering, software, systems, data science, human factors, product, regulatory, and quality teams to define requirements, risks, mitigations, and validation strategies.
• Plan, execute, and document prototype, simulated-use, preclinical, workflow-based, and clinical performance evaluations.
• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to develop clinical rationale and recommendations that guide product decisions and milestone readiness.
• Support design-control, risk management, regulatory, labeling, training, and customer-facing documentation as needed.
• Maintain expertise in robotic surgery, digital surgery, automated surgical tasks, AI/ML-enabled technology, clinical applications, and emerging standards.
• Lead complex clinical development workstreams, mentor others, and influence cross-functional product direction.
• Keep Intuitive’s vision and values at the forefront of decision making
• Perform other duties as required to support the company’s overall strategy and goals

Required Skills and Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in medical device industry with a Bachelor’s degree, 6 years experience with a Master’s degree, or 3 years with a PhD degree
• Proven experience in supporting a medical product from design to launch
• Experience in regulated medical device product discovery and/or new product development.
• Experience working with surgeons or clinical experts in OR, simulation, lab, or clinical evaluation settings.
• Strong knowledge of surgical terminology, anatomy, technique, and minimally invasive or robotic surgical workflows.
• Ability to translate clinical needs into user needs, use cases, requirements, clinical performance criteria, and validation plans.
• Ability to work in operating room, simulation, lab, and preclinical environments as required.

Nice to have

• Experience with digital surgery, robotic automation, AI/ML-enabled tools, computer vision, navigation, image guidance, or software as a medical device.
• Familiarity with design controls, ISO 14971, usability engineering, human factors, clinical validation, and evidence strategies.
• Experience with digital interfaces, workflow-integrated software, data-driven product development, annotation workflows, model evaluation, or clinical data review.
• Strong systems thinking, analytical skills, data interpretation, test method development, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, prioritization, escalation, and cross-functional leadership skills in ambiguous technical and clinical environments.
• Proven success recognizing critical issues and driving them to closure by taking coordinated action
• Self-confident and able to react quickly under pressure

Travel

• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time, internationally and domestically, including travel to customer sites, labs, preclinical facilities, conferences, and clinical evaluation locations.

Due to the nature of our business and the role, please note that Intuitive and/or your customer(s) may require that you show current proof of vaccination against certain diseases including COVID-19. Details can vary by role.

Intuitive is an Equal Opportunity Employer.We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type, without regard to race, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, genetic information or any other status protected under federal, state, or local applicable laws.

U.S. Export Controls Disclaimer:In accordance with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR §743.13(b)), some roles at Intuitive Surgical may be subject to U.S. export controls for prospective employeeswho are nationals from countries currently on embargo or sanctions status.

Certain information you provide as part of the application will be used for purposes of determining whether Intuitive Surgical will need to (i) obtain an export license from the U.S. Government on your behalf (note: the government’s licensing process can take 3 to 6+ months) or (ii) implement a Technology Control Plan (“TCP”) (note: typically adds 2 weeks to the hiring process).

For any Intuitive role subject to export controls, final offers are contingent upon obtaining an approved export license and/or an executed TCP prior to the prospective employee’sstart date, which may or may not be flexible, and within a timeframe that does not unreasonably impede the hiring need. If applicable, candidates will be notified and instructed on any requirements for these purposes.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.

Preference will be given to qualified candidates who do not reside, or plan to reside, in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Tennessee.

This position may be filled at a different job level than listed here depending
business need and/or on the selected candidate’sexperience, knowledge and skills.
Compensation will be based primarily on the job level at which the role is filled and the
candidate’s qualifications, consistent with applicable law.

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, benefits, and equity. It would not be typical for someone to be hired at the top end of range for the role, as actual pay will be determined based on several factors, including experience, skills, and qualifications. The target compensation ranges are listed.

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