Staff Software Engineer - Emulation

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 Multiport Software Group within Intuitive has an immediate opening for an experienced Software Engineer with a focus on the internal da Vinci emulator. You will be on a small team responsible for building, deploying, and supporting our full-system emulator and hybrid hardware-in-the-loop setups.

A successful candidate must excel in a high-energy focused team environment and must balance delivery of new features, supporting existing features, and tracking system changes. An excellent candidate can rapidly learn the large complex and continually evolving systems, through establishing working relationships with multiple engineers in multiple departments and direct experimentation with the existing system. A deep sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is required, as is the ability to make work fun and interesting

Essential Job Duties

• Lead the emulation team on industry-standard or innovative approaches to developing performance system emulators.
• Expand the functionality of the internal da Vinci emulator by faithfully emulating microcontrollers, sensors, FPGAs, and physics models.
• Learn and explore the continuously evolving da Vinci system software and firmware.
• Explore creative ways to faithfully emulate da Vinci hardware.
• An advocate for hardware “simulation first” that educates developer on the productivity benefits of using the emulator.
• Continuously follow up with developers (i.e. our internal customers) to support feature requests, bug fixes, and system integration.

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• 12 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or another relevant engineering discipline, or 8 years of experience and a Master’s degree, or 5 years of experience and a PhD degree; or equivalent experience
• Extensive experience understanding and debugging complex systems
• Excellent knowledge of Software Engineering and Computer Science fundamentals
• Experience using C++ and Python
• Proficient communication skill and the ability to collaborate with a diverse range of talented engineers

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience with CUDA and graphics acceleration
• Experience with Linux process management, signals, and inter process communication
• Working knowledge of or willingness to learn microcontrollers and embedded software for memory-mapped I/O
• Some experience with Docker and Git

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.