Senior Robotic Surgical Systems Test Engineer

Intuitive Surgical, Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 138,000 - 234,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is seeking a Senior Software Test Engineer for the Future Forward engineering team in Sunnyvale to own the system verification lifecycle.

You will design, implement, and run test protocols, collaborate with development, clinical, and regulatory teams to ensure robust robotic software and safety critical testing. The role emphasizes automation, test strategy, and defect management in a fast-moving environment, with strong focus on medical device quality standards and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or above in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
• 8 years of experience in testing complex electro-mechanical or robotic systems (6 years for Master's degree holders).
• Deep understanding of requirements and system software architecture, with strong ability to translate them into effective test methods.
• Proven experience planning and executing Verification and Validation (V&V) activities for medical devices under quality and regulatory compliance frameworks.
• Solid foundation in systems engineering, Software Quality Assurance (SQA), and software design principles.
• First-principles thinker with hands-on experience in failure mode and risk analysis (FMEA/FTA).
• Strong debugging skills across complex embedded software and electromechanical systems.
• Excellent communicator - you can write a crisp test report and explain a technical issue to a clinical stakeholder without missing a beat.

Responsibilities

• Lead system verification for robotic surgical systems - own the top-level test strategy, design, develop, and execute test protocols, and drive them through to completion.
• Design and execute test scripts and protocols for functional software verification across multi-disciplinary robotic systems.
• Generate test reports with complete requirements traceability, ensuring every requirement under test is accounted for.
• Manage defects end-to-end - log issues, drive root cause analysis, assess impact, and collaborate with software and cross-functional teams to resolution.
• Contribute to requirements discussions and bring the system test perspective into design decisions early.
• Participate in design change reviews, assess test impact, and lead regression analysis to ensure changes don't introduce new risk.
• Analyze test data, identify non-conformance trends, and synthesize findings into clear executive summaries with actionable design improvement recommendations.
• Understand the system deeply - both technically and from the user's perspective.

Skills

V&V activities

SQA

FMEA/FTA

Test method design

Test reporting

Defect management

System verification

Embedded testing

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in CS/EE/Physics

Tools

Python

MATLAB

JavaScript

Unit test frameworks

HIL testing

CI/CD

Job description

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is seeking a Senior Software Test Engineer for the Future Forward engineering team in Sunnyvale to own the system verification lifecycle.

You will design, implement, and run test protocols, collaborate with development, clinical, and regulatory teams to ensure robust robotic software and safety critical testing. The role emphasizes automation, test strategy, and defect management in a fast-moving environment, with strong focus on medical device quality standards and