Sustainment Lead

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.

Position Summary
The Sustaintment Leads leads the strategy, architecture, and day-to-day operations of the organization’s global physical security technology portfolio, including access control, video management, visitor management, and key management platforms (e.g., Lenel OnGuard, Milestone XProtect, Envoy, Traka). This role owns vendor relationships, project delivery, budget planning, and a team of systems administrators, while partnering closely with Facilities, IT/Network Engineering, Legal, and business stakeholders across international locations. We are specifically seeking candidates from Project Management or Networking/IT Infrastructure backgrounds — deep physical security domain expertise can be developed on the job, but strong program delivery discipline or enterprise network fluency is what this role requires from day one.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the roadmap, architecture, and lifecycle management of enterprise physical security systems (access control, VMS, visitor management, key management) across multiple global sites.
• Lead complex, multi-site security technology projects end-to-end — scoping, budgeting, scheduling, vendor coordination, risk tracking, and stakeholder reporting — using standard PM methodology (charters, RAID logs, status reporting, change control).
• Manage relationships with security integrators, manufacturers, and managed service providers; lead RFP/RFQ processes, negotiate contracts and SOWs, and hold vendors accountable to SLAs.
• Partner with IT/Network Engineering on the network architecture supporting security systems — VLAN segmentation, firewall rules, bandwidth planning for video/access traffic, PoE deployment, and cybersecurity hardening of OT/IoT security devices.
• Build, mentor, and manage a team of systems administrators and engineers; set performance goals, prioritize workload, and develop staff technical capability.
• Own the departmental budget for physical security systems — capital project estimates, maintenance contracts, licensing renewals, and forecasting for leadership review.
• Establish and maintain system documentation, configuration standards, and standard operating procedures across all managed platforms.
• Drive incident response and root-cause analysis for major system outages or security events; report findings and remediation plans to senior leadership.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory and contractual requirements (e.g., CTPAT, data privacy, insurance/audit requirements) across all managed systems.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging security technologies, presenting cost-benefit analysis and implementation plans to executive stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary escalation point between security operations, facilities, IT, and executive leadership for physical security systems matters.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (Business, IT, Engineering, Criminal Justice, or similar) or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience in one of the following, with demonstrated ability to quickly cross-apply it to physical security systems:
  • Project/Program Management — PMP or equivalent experience leading cross-functional technical projects, managing budgets, vendors, and multi-stakeholder timelines; or
  • Networking/IT Infrastructure — hands-on experience with enterprise networking (TCP/IP, VLANs, switching, firewalls, PoE), server/appliance administration, and IT security fundamentals.
• Proven experience managing vendors/contractors, including contract negotiation and SLA enforcement.
• Experience managing or mentoring direct reports, or leading project teams without direct reporting authority.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership and translating technical topics for non-technical audiences.
• Willingness and ability to travel to project sites/office locations as needed.

Preferred

• Direct experience with enterprise physical security platforms (Lenel OnGuard, Milestone XProtect, Genetec, Envoy, Traka, or similar).
• PMP, CAPM, or Agile/Scrum certification (for PM-track candidates); or CCNA/Network+/Security+ certification (for networking-track candidates).
• Experience in a global or multi-site organization, coordinating across time zones and regional teams.
• Familiarity with physical security risk assessment frameworks and industry standards (e.g., CTPAT, ASIS guidelines).
• Budget ownership experience of $500K+ in technology or capital projects.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Leadership: Ability to build, direct, and develop a technical team; sets clear priorities and holds staff and vendors accountable.
• Program Management: Structures ambiguous, multi-stakeholder initiatives into clear scope, budget, timeline, and risk plans; delivers on commitments.
• Technical Fluency: Comfortable learning new platforms quickly; for networking-track candidates, applies existing infrastructure expertise to access control/VMS network design; for PM-track candidates, partners closely with technical SMEs to validate designs.
• Vendor Management: Skilled at contract negotiation, SLA management, and holding external partners accountable for delivery and quality.
• Financial Acumen: Builds and manages budgets, cost estimates, and forecasts; communicates trade-offs clearly to leadership.
• Cross-Functional Communication: Bridges security, IT, facilities, and executive stakeholders; adjusts communication style and detail level to the audience.
• Strategic Thinking: Evaluates new technologies and approaches against organizational risk, cost, and operational goals.

Work Environment

• Hybrid/on-site role with regular travel between office and project locations (domestic and, at times, international).
• Requires availability for occasional after-hours support during major incidents, system cutovers, or maintenance windows.
• Works within a fast-paced, matrixed environment coordinating across security, IT, facilities, and vendor teams.

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.