Staff Software Engineer, Architecture

Intuitive Surgical, Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 224,000 - 322,000; Full time

Job summary

Intuitive Surgical is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across cloud infrastructure, backend services, APIs, and data platforms. The role focuses on architecture, engineering standards, and hands-on execution as a senior individual contributor.

Based in Sunnyvale, CA, you will collaborate with product and security teams to ensure scalable, reliable software that meets regulatory requirements and drives healthcare innovation.

Qualifications

• Deep experience building complex software systems across cloud infrastructure, backend services, APIs and data processing.
• Proficient in Go, Python, Java or related languages.
• Experience designing and operating APIs with contracts, versioning, authentication and observability.
• Cloud-native development in AWS with infrastructure automation and security controls.
• Experience with GitLab CI, pipelines, release automation and deployment practices.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (Terraform) and reusable platform patterns.
• Experience with data ingestion, event-driven systems and streaming/batch processing (Kafka, Spark, Flink, Airflow).
• Relational and NoSQL databases; service-side data modeling and transactional design.
• Strong software quality practices and reliability engineering knowledge.
• Ability to influence technical direction across teams and mentor engineers.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, and data platforms.
• Contribute hands-on design and implementation on high-priority projects.
• Design and develop engineering patterns for APIs, data contracts, deployment, observability, and reliability.
• Lead architecture reviews for cross-team initiatives and ensure platform standards.
• Work with infrastructure, product, quality and security to meet requirements.
• Mentor engineers and raise engineering standards.

Skills

Cloud infrastructure

Backend services

APIs design

Data platforms

Architecture leadership

Go

Python

Java

AWS

CI/CD (GitLab)

Terraform

Kafka / Spark / Airflow

PostgreSQL / DynamoDB

Testing & quality practices

Reliability & incident response

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS

10+ years software engineering

Tools

GitLab CI

Terraform

Kafka / Spark / Airflow

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'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.

Job Description

Primary Function of Position

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and hands-on engineering across the organization. This role will operate across cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, and data platforms, with a focus on architecture, engineering standards, and implementation. The successful candidate will serve as a senior individual contributor who combines architectural judgment with technical execution.

Essential Job Duties

(Specific responsibilities and tasks an individual would be expected to perform in the role. Additional job duties may be determined by functional people manager)

• Provide technical leadership across cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, and data platforms, ensuring that engineering practices are consistent, scalable, and broadly adoptable across the organization.
• Contribute hands‑on design and implementation to high‑priority projects, with the ability to dive deep across multiple software domains.
• Design and develop engineering patterns for APIs, service boundaries, data contracts, deployment models, observability, and operational reliability.
• Contribute to design of data services such as file and event ingestion and processing, as well as data platforms with governed data access for analytics teams.
• Lead architecture and design reviews for cross‑team initiatives, helping the team make technical tradeoffs and align with platform standards.
• Help establish and reinforce standards for infrastructure as code, CI/CD, automated testing, versioning, documentation, and health and operability requirements across service and platforms.
• Work closely with infrastructure, product, quality, and security to ensure solutions meet business, operational, and regulatory requirements.
• Mentor engineers across teams, raising the bar for design and implementation quality.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

(Specific skills, knowledge, and experience that an individual must possess in order to successfully perform in job)

• Deep experience building complex software systems across multiple domains such as cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, data processing systems, and platform engineering.
• Proficient in one or more modern programming languages such as Go, Python, Java, or related.
• Strong experience designing and operating APIs and backend services with clear contracts, versioning, backward compatibility, documentation, authentication and authorization, and observability.
• Strong experience with cloud‑native development and platform engineering in AWS, including infrastructure automation, environment design, deployment patterns, and security controls.
• Experience with GitLab CI, automated build and test pipelines, artifact publication, release automation, and production deployment practices for services and platforms.
• Experience with Terraform or similar infrastructure‑as‑code and reusable platform patterns that improve consistency, delivery speed, and developer self‑service.
• Experience with data ingestion, event‑driven systems, and stream or batch processing architectures using technologies such as Kafka, Spark, Flink, Airflow, or similar.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases such as Postgres, DynamoDB, or similar, service‑side data modeling, and transactional system design.
• Strong understanding of software quality practices, including unit, integration, and end‑to‑end testing, along with traceability and artifact publication.
• Strong understanding of reliability, incident response, and operational support for business‑critical systems.
• Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams through strong design judgment, collaboration, and clear communication.
• Experience mentoring engineers and improving engineering standards.
• Excellent problem‑solving skills and a collaborative mindset.

Required Education and Training

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science or related field.
• Minimum of 10 years relevant experience in software engineering, data platforms, and related functions.

Working Conditions

None

Preferred Skills and Experience

(As applicable – Specific skills, knowledge, and experience that are not required to perform the job, but are desirable to have)

• Experience working with medical devices or other regulated industries.
• Experience with defining and implementing data privacy requirements.

Additional Information

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 employees who 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's start 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 on business need and/or on the selected candidate's experience, 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.

Accommodation & Accessibility Notice:

Intuitive is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance or an accommodation during any part of the application or interview process, please contact People Services at (email protected).

Base Compensation Range Region 1: $223,900 USD - $322,100 USD

Base Compensation Range Region 2: $190,300 USD - $273,800 USD

Shift: Day

Workplace Type: Set Schedule - This job will be onsite weekly, the percentage of onsite work will be defined by the leader.