Staff Interaction Software 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:

This role will be part of Intuitive Future Forward team that aims to improve surgical outcomes and efficiency by innovating in computer graphics, interaction engineering, and embedded system software development. We work to empower the surgeon by extracting new information from the surgical scene, presenting it with meaningful visualization, and synthesizing it in a way that supports surgical decision making. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in the embedded systems software engineering, 3D and 2D graphics, and interactive application development with a focus on developing algorithms for multi-modal medical imaging applications.

As a member of the Intuitive Future Forward team, you will collaborate and contribute to the conceptualization, design, implementation, and evaluation of new digital interfaces to support a novel robotic system. You will contribute across the entire development cycle, taking concepts from initial prototypes to production software.

In this role, you will design and implement a variety of software components and will take on projects with broad technical scope, generating delightful digital interfaces inclusive of 2D and 3D content. The ideal candidate is an independent and fast-paced developer with excellent problem-solving skills, who can translate rough and approximate requirements into working prototypes, so to arrive at high quality, complete solutions through methodical iterations.

Quick learning and a desire to understand requirements from an engineering and user perspective are essential to becoming a valuable contributor. A strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is required.

Essential Job Duties

• Contribute to the development of world-class intraoperative navigation and guidance systems of our next generation robotic software platform using Qt/QML and other tools in an embedded C/C++ environment to support surgeons in the use of a novel robotic system.    
   
• Collaborate closely with designers, clinical engineers, human factors, and other software developers to integrate simple and elegant interfaces into user-friendly applications.
   
• Work with other engineering team members to define the architecture and select tools used for system graphical interfaces.
   
• Participate in failure mode analysis, to identify and implement robust hazard mitigation strategies.
   
• Refine prototypes to production-quality software through rapid iterations.

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• Minimum Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in software, Electrical or Computer Engineering preferred
   
• Minimum of 8 years of industry experience developing interactive computer graphics, or vision-based applications
   
• Demonstrated experience across phases of the product lifecycle, including    design, implementation, debug, verification, and maintenance
   
• Fluent in object-oriented programming using C/C++
   
• Experience with 3D Graphics and GUI development frameworks (e.g. Qt)
   
• Excellent communication skills and ability to convey technical content to a broader audience
   

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience with Qt and/or QML
• Experience with 3D graphics frameworks (Qt3D, OpenGL, Vulkan, CUDA etc.)
• Experience with the deep-learning algorithms in production is a big plus.
• Experience with the Ultrasound imaging is a big plus.
• Proficient in creating designs that prioritize user delight and safety
• Experience working in a regulated software environment such as the medical device industry
• Experience working with software development methodologies and tools

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.

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.