Mechanical Design Engineer

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 Position

The Ion™ endoluminal system is Intuitive's robotic platform for minimally invasive biopsy in the peripheral lung, with an initial goal of improving the early diagnosis of lung cancer.

Our Product Engineering (PE) team focuses on maintaining and improving Ion™ product.

In this role, the Mechanical Engineer will be working with multi-disciplinary teams to maintain and improve the design, production, and service of the Ion™ Robotic Bronchoscopy System. The ideal candidate will thrive in a high-energy, focused, small-team environment and be comfortable handling multiple priorities.

This role is an exciting opportunity to join a rapidly growing new business within Intuitive and make a meaningful contribution to its future growth.

Essential Job Duties

In this role, you must utilize creativity and sound engineering judgment in the design of medical capital equipment, collaborating within highly cross-functional teams to ensure our products provide value to patients and customers. You will be expected to use design and analytical skills to conceptualize, develop, and productize mechanical designs. Making sound decisions when faced with time constraints and ambiguous or incomplete information is essential.

Essential job duties include:

• Collaboration with cross-functional teams to maintain and improve the design, production, and service of the Ion™ System. 

• Engineering investigation and determination of root cause of complex problems with electro-mechanical components, manufacturing process and system performance, latent and emerging design, manufacturing or material defects.

• Develop, design, test, document, and implement solutions to the root causes identified for improved performance and reliability.

• Create formal documentation, perform verification testing, and lead implementation of design solutions.

Required Skills and Experience

• Minimum of 5 years related experience with a University degree; or 3 years experience and a Master’s degree; or a PhD without experience

• Technical expertise with mechanism design, with a preferred focus on robotics and/or medical products.

  • Mechanical analysis, including statics, dynamics, kinematics, stress, fatigue, thermal, and reliability.

  • Proficiency at failure analysis.

  • Design, analyze and document components, structures, and mechanical assemblies in SolidWorks or similar CAD software.

  • Release designs following good documentation principles and configuration control methods.

  • Experience designing for volume manufacturing processes such as metal casting, plastic injection molding, sheet metal stamping, compression molding, thermoforming, etc.

• Self-driven with the ability to excel in a high-energy, small, focused team environment and maintain a strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward. Contributes to a positive and fun work environment.

• Capacity to collaborate on multiple complex projects in parallel. Independently prioritizes activities across projects, ensuring high quality and delivery.

• Knowledge of all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, debug, verification, qualification, and transfer.

Required Education and Training

Minimum BS or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics or equivalent

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Curiosity and excitement to learn new subjects and get to the bottom of tough technical problems.

• Proven ability to collaborate on teams, communicate with stakeholders, and navigate feedback from broader engineering team.

• Ability to communicate effectively (written, oral) across peers and management.

• Experience in a regulated environment (FDA, Military, FAA or equivalent). Comfortable with execution of design verification/validation test protocols, assessing risk (FMEA), providing inputs to regulatory agency approval including UL, CE and FDA is a plus.

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.

Mandatory Notices

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.