Staff Mechanical Engineer (Flexible Instruments)

Job Description

Primary Function of Position

The Staff Mechanical Engineer, Advanced Energy, will serve as a technical and design lead for the development of advanced energy products and/or sub-systems at Intuitive. This role is responsible for driving early concept exploration through commercialization translating ambiguous clinical/technical needs into robust architectures, and leading rapid prototype iteration to de-risk key technical challenges. They will have both the technical depth to resolve complex mechanical, material, and manufacturing design issues as well as the ability to work in an interdisciplinary team to troubleshoot and root cause higher level system issues. They must have strong technical depth in relevant areas and have a track record of successful product development efforts. Using their subject matter expertise, exceptional communication skills and cross-functional collaboration, they will investigate and develop advanced energy applications for novel clinical applications across our robotic surgical systems.

This person thrives in a small, high-energy team, takes end-to-end ownership, and consistently delivers high-quality prototypes, data-driven decisions, and scalable designs. A strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is required as well as a commitment to high product quality.

Essential Job Duties

• Work in a small, cross-functional project team to design, develop and verify new concepts for advanced energy catheters and/or flexible electromechanical instruments
• Define early product architecture, interfaces, and design requirements; translate feasibility prototypes into scalable products
• Develop, implement, test and document new solutions, processes, and designs according to corporate standards and departmental operating procedures
• Hands-on assembly and testing of devices to support proof of concept, design development, pre-clinical and V&V activities
• Investigate and determine root cause of emerging design or manufacturing defects/failures.
• Development and documentation of design and manufacturing documentation including inspection procedures, assembly instructions, test methods, purchase specifications, BOMs, part and assembly drawings using appropriate change control procedures
• Collaborate with clinical engineering team to assess product concepts and do tradeoff analysis of proposed designs and feature sets
• Partner with testing engineering and NPI to define verification approaches, ensure design outputs are measurable, and support design transfer
• Observe clinical cases and participate in interviews with clinical experts to inform designs; provide support for pre-clinical labs and clinical cases
• Establish individual goals consistent with overall project goals
• Performs other duties as required to support the company's overall strategy and goals

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

• Typical minimum of 12 years of relevant experience, minimum 8 years with a masters
• Demonstrated success as a technical lead (and/or design lead) in cross-functional R&D teams, influencing decisions across engineering, testing, clinical, quality and manufacturing.
• Demonstrated ability to originate novel concepts and rapidly convert ideas into functional prototypes to evaluate technical feasibility and clinical value
• Proven track record operating in highly ambiguous environments with limited data, effectively identifying key risks and prioritizing experiments to accelerate learning
• Demonstrated ability to determine what to prototype versus what to analyze, balancing speed, risk reduction, and long-term scalability
• Expertise in structured problem-solving and rapid design iteration cycles (build–test–learn)
• Deep technical experience across multiple catheter and flexible instrument design domain such as shaft construction (coil/braids, liners, jackets), adhesives/bonding, sealing/insulation strategies, electrical component integration, thermal management considerations etc.
• Hands-on experience with rapid prototyping methods for flexible instruments and associated components, including 3D printing, plastics processing, metal fabrication, and bench-level assembly
• Proficiency in CAD-based mechanical design (SolidWorks preferred)
• Experience with all phases of the product development lifecycle; including proof-of-concept, design, implementation, debug, verification, qualification, and transfer
• High autonomy and ability to work independently under limited supervision to determine and develop approach to solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication; able to clearly present tradeoffs, risks, and technical rationale to varied audiences.
• Experience with FDA QSR 21 CFR Part 820, ISO 13485, ISO 14971 and other related standards

Required Education and Training

• Minimum education: BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Biomedical Engineering or related engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent work experience

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with energy delivery devices is a strong plus

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