Senior Mechanical Engineering Technician

Intuitive Surgical, Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineering Technician for the Future Forward group to support early-stage R&D of next-generation flexible energy delivery instruments.

This hybrid role involves building and iterating functional prototypes from early concepts while supporting dosimetry-focused testing to understand tissue energy interactions. The ideal candidate is hands-on, detail-oriented, comfortable with minimal supervision, and capable of translating

Qualifications

• Hands-on approach required for building functional prototypes.
• Detail-oriented mindset with careful data collection during experiments.
• Prototyping experience in R&D environments preferred.
• Ability to operate and troubleshoot benchtop lab equipment and instrumentation.

Responsibilities

• Builds and refines medical device components and catheter assemblies and provide input for the catheter assembly.
• Assisting with all aspects of early prototype builds, including procurement of material, inspection of materials and subassemblies, rework of components, assembly, troubleshooting, and repair of prototype instruments.
• Prepare instruments/electrodes/fixtures/tissue samples and run experiments from approved protocols.
• Support preclinical lab evaluations (including in vivo), equipment setup, and procedural assistance as needed.
• Perform tissue handling and histology prep activities (orientation/inking/trimming, fixation, cassette prep, labeling, sample tracking); coordinate outsourced histology and perform cryosectioning when applicable.
• Assisting engineers in benchtop and excised tissue lab evaluations of prototypes
• Collecting, recording, and reporting test results.
• Preparation of prototype instruments and accessories for benchtop testing and pre‑clinical lab evaluations, organizing, overseeing, and collaborating with other groups

Skills

Hands-on

Detail-oriented

Prototyping

Lab equipment handling

Job description

Company Description

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 are 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.

The Future Forward organization is Intuitive's advanced concepts group. We explore emerging technologies, prototype next‑generation solutions, and build software experiences that shape the future of robotic‑assisted surgery.

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

Job Description

Primary Function of Position

The Future Forward group within Intuitive Surgical is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineering Technician to support early‑stage R&D of next‑generation flexible energy delivery instruments and accessories. This is a hybrid role: you'll build and iterate functional prototypes from early engineering concepts, and you'll also support dosimetry‑focused testing (benchtop, ex vivo, and in vivo) to help the team understand the energy dose delivered to tissue and resulting tissue effects. The candidate should be comfortable working with minimal supervision, and with minimal work instructions and be able to take ideas from R&D engineers and figure out how to build fully functional instrument prototypes. The ideal candidate is hands‑on, detail‑oriented, comfortable with minimal supervision, and able to translate rough direction into reliable builds, experiments, and data.

Essential Job Duties

• Builds and refines medical device components and catheter assemblies and provide input for the catheter assembly.
• Assisting with all aspects of early prototype builds, including procurement of material, inspection of materials and subassemblies, rework of components, assembly, troubleshooting, and repair of prototype instruments.
• Prepare instruments/electrodes/fixtures/tissue samples and run experiments from approved protocols.
• Support preclinical lab evaluations (including in vivo), equipment setup, and procedural assistance as needed.
• Perform tissue handling and histology prep activities (orientation/inking/trimming, fixation, cassette prep, labeling, sample tracking); coordinate outsourced histology and perform cryosectioning when applicable.
• Assisting engineers in benchtop and excised tissue lab evaluations of prototypes
• Collecting, recording, and reporting test results.
• Preparation of prototype instruments and accessories for benchtop testing and pre‑clinical lab evaluations, organizing, overseeing, and collaborating with other groups