Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Platform Software

Job Description

Our team designs and builds the embedded platform software infrastructure that supports critical
performance, safety and user-facing features of the da Vinci™ Surgical System, Intuitive’s flagship product.
We’re looking for a high energy, experienced embedded software engineer to take technical ownership
across our embedded platform software stack.

In this role, you will lead board bring-up initiatives, drive architectural decision for our next-generation platforms, and serve as a technical anchor for the team – mentoring junior engineers and collaborating cross-functionally with hardware, system software, and FPGA teams. You will own critical subsystems supporting video networking, UI display, and machine learning capabilities of Da Vinci 5 while driving improvements in robustness, reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability.

Essential Job Duties

• Lead board bring-up activities for next generation-based platforms including bootloader configuration, BSP customization, peripheral driver integration and system validation – taking end-to-end ownership from initial power-on through production readiness.
• Own development and drive the technical direction of embedded software for video networking, UI display, and machine learning applications on Linux-based systems – including architectural decisions, code review and performance optimization.
• Design and own comprehensive test strategies to validate board functionality, peripheral interfaces, and system performance metrics – including defining acceptance criteria and driving resolution of complex hardware-software integration issues.
• Partner with and technically guide hardware engineers to identify, root-cause and resolve board-level issues during early development phases – serving as the primary software interface for cross-functional hardware bring-up
• Architect and lead the development of automated test frameworks for board validation and regression testing – establishing scalable infrastructure usable across multiple platform variants.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews, technical guidance, and hands-on debugging support – actively contributing to the growth of the team.
• Author and maintain technical documentation including design specifications, bring-up procedures, and failure analysis reports in compliance with FDA-regulated development processes.

Qualifications

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of related experience and a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years experience and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience
• Expert-level proficiency in C or C++ for embedded systems development, including memory management, real-time constraints, and performance-critical code
• Experience in bare-metal, embedded Linux, including kernel internals, custom device driver development, BSP bring-up, and user space application development
• Proficiency with embedded development and debugging tools including GDB, JTAG, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and cross-compilation toolchains
• Proven hands-on experience with hardware interfaces and protocols (I2C, I2S, T1S, SPI, UART, USB, Ethernet, CAN) – including bring-up debugging, and driver development for each
• Debugging and root-cause analysis skills, with a track record of resolving complex, multi-layer Hardware-FPGA-software integration failures in time-critical environments
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and technically develop junior and mid-level engineers
• Effective written and verbal communication skills for technical documentation and cross-functional team collaboration

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Hands-on experience with NVIDIA Jetson platforms (TX2/Xavier/Orin or similar) or comparable ARM-based SOCs in a production embedded environment
• Hands-on experience with GPU acceleration (CUDA) and hardware-accelerated inference frameworks (TensorRT) in production embedded systems
• Experience with QNX RTOS or other real-time operating systems in safety-critical applications.
• Proficiency in Python and bash scripting for test automation, bootup design, and build system integration
• Demonstrated ability to root cause complex hardware-software interactions
• Demonstrated experience in and comfort with all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, debug, verification, validation, and transfer to manufacturing
• Experience designing software products in an FDA or other regulated industry or for mission critical applications; comfortable with concepts of design input, design output, traceability, risk analysis, and mitigations

Additional Information

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.

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