Staff Mechanical Design Engineer - Instruments

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.

At Intuitive, we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. By combining ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints. We are looking for a team member with exceptional character who has the capacity to simplify complex problems and the energy to deliver solutions urgently to our patients.

The Mechanical Design Engineer is responsible for leading the design process.
They shall do so by developing, testing, documenting, verifying, and validating new product designs, as well as improving existing designs, with a Patient-First mentality towards furthering the frontier of surgery.

Essential Job Duties

• Drive Design efforts to optimize performance, manufacturability and reliability of existing and future Da Vinci SP instruments.
• Work and lead the design cross-functionally with Manufacturing Engineers, Systems Engineers, Systems Analysts, Clinical Development engineers, Supplier Engineers
• Maintain awareness of customer needs and requirements – develop new device concepts as well as continuously improving existing designs to meet those needs.
• Identify and Quantify Design Risks through Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
• Create product, functional, and design specifications
• Analyze and test product designs
• Develop vendors to manufacture components
• Develop initial fixtures and processes to assemble components
• Participate in clinical labs with appropriate surgical models (Cadaver, Animal, Tissue Analogs)
• Develop product assembly instructions in conjunction with Manufacturing
• Develop and perform component verification testing and product validation testing
• Support production of final product by troubleshooting process and component problems
• Provide engineering support to Manufacturing, Materials, Test Engineering, and Service to facilitate transfer of designs.
• Develop Design History Files per FDA requirements
• Investigate and establish root cause of both latent and emerging design, manufacturing or material defects
• Develop, implement, test and document solutions for these opportunities according to corporate standard and departmental operating procedures

Required Skills and Experience

• An exceptional team player who values collaboration and personal project ownership

• A passion for creating robust and reliable products as part of a cross functional team

• Minimum 12 years of experience with Bachelors degree or minimum 8 years of experience with Masters degree and mechanical engineering experience

• An exceptional team player who values collaboration and personal project ownership

• A passion for creating robust and reliable products as part of a cross functional team

• Experience with small mechanism design, plastics, and/or reuseable and/or disposable medical products are a strong plus

• Proficiency using CAD to design and document mechanisms; SolidWorks preferred

• Mechanical design and analysis skills, including statics, Finite Element Analysis (FEA - computational) materials and stress analysis, Material selection.

• Strong communication and documentation skills required

• Demonstrated knowledge of component manufacturing processes (including injection molding, machining, MIM, heat treatment)

• Experience with designing hardware products in a regulated industry for mission critical applications is desired, comfort with concepts of design input, design output, traceability, and risk analysis

Required Education and Training

Minimum education: BSME required, MSME preferred

Working Conditions

Ability to lift 30 lbs. without assistance.

Preferred Skills and Experience

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

• An excitement to learn and get to the bottom of challenging technical problems

• Familiarity with cleaning and sterilization processes and designing for sterilization

• Comfortable operating machine shop, measurement and test equipment

• Medical product experience is desirable but not required

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.

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].

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.