Senior System Test 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.

Quality Counts at Intuitive. As a Senior System Test Engineer within the Multiport System & Release team, you will be responsible for all aspects of system level software verification test activities to ensure the high quality of the robotic surgical products. You will closely collaborate with cross-functional teams, including but not limited to product interaction design, software development, systems analysts, human factors, clinical, quality and regulatory teams. You will understand the system from both a technical perspective and the user’s viewpoint, and drive definition and development of robust test strategy and comprehensive test design. The successful candidate must excel in a focused, high-energy team environment with accountability and ownership.

Essential Job Duties:

• Partner closely with user interaction designers, system analysts, and developers to ensure testable requirements. Identify edge use cases which are not defined in requirements
• Participate in design reviews and provide verification‑centric input
• Design and implement comprehensive, robust manual and automated test strategies for functional, integration, regression, coexistence, and user journey focused E2E testing
• Design, develop and execute test protocols for end-to-end user interaction features
• Champion continuous improvement by optimizing verification workflows, automation test coverage, and test metrics to increase efficiency and overall software reliability
• Log and manage issues in the issue tracking system, work with development and cross-functional teams to debug

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience and a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years of experience and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience
• Experience developing test scripts in Python for functional testing of user interface features.
• Strong experience in troubleshooting, triaging and providing detailed debug information for expediting issue resolution.
• Experience developing detailed test plans, assessing risks, filing detailed bug reports, and providing relevant data for test reporting.
• Ability to drive cross-functional communications, understanding dependencies while also ensuring a tight timeline can be maintained.
• Proactive self-starter with a keen eye for details with focus on end-user experiences and ability to go above and beyond to ensure a high-quality release.
• Excellent knowledge of product / software development lifecycle, testing methodologies, and testing tools.
• Experienced in testing complex systems with multiple software and hardware components, preferably including FDA-regulated products.

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.