Dir. Product Management, da Vinci SP Instrument and Accessories Portfolio

Intuitive Surgical•Palo Alto, CA

57d•Onsite

About The Position

As a colleague of the da Vinci SP Product Management Team, you will be part of an innovative surgical platform that is changing the way physicians perform soft tissue surgery. Da Vinci SP is approved in multiple countries to perform a variety of surgical procedures with innovative approaches surfacing from physicians globally. The result is patients recovering faster and going home sooner than other soft tissue modality options1. Even minimally invasive prostatectomy, made reproducible by Da Vinci Systems over a decade ago, is being reimagined by surgeons and performed via new approaches to preserve healthy tissue, leading to faster recovery and postoperative discharge in as little as a few hours after surgery.2 The Director of Product Management provides leadership to a team of product managers who oversee the entire lifecycle of da Vinci SP instruments and accessories across SP procedures performed globally. This role leverages deep clinical expertise and customer empathy to identify unmet needs and prioritize product innovations that enable surgeons to deliver measurable improvements in patient outcomes. Key responsibilities include guiding the team in identifying user needs, defining new products, developing and maintaining strategic product roadmaps, supporting commercial marketing and sales teams in leading global launches, and sustaining product support. The role must foster strong cross-functional collaboration across engineering, corporate and commercial teams, ensuring alignment to accelerate impactful solutions. Success in this role requires both mastery of core product management practices and the ability to translate clinical insights into actionable product strategies that advance the standard of surgical care.

Requirements

Strategic Problem Solving
Apply first-principles thinking, analytical rigor, and creativity to resolve complex challenges, set ambitious goals, and drive progress through proactive initiative and perseverance.
Leadership & Collaboration
Demonstrate empathy, emotional intelligence, and selfless leadership, fostering customer-centric decision making and strong influence across diverse teams.
Model the company's values while developing others, cultivating teamwork, accountability, and high-impact results.
Communication & Vision
Communicate effectively in writing and speech, adapting messages for technical and commercial audiences.
Synthesize information and articulate a compelling product vision that builds alignment and shared purpose.
Market and Business Acumen
Develop deep market, disease area, and customer workflow understanding.
Build business cases, financial models, pricing strategies, and commercialization plans.
Monitor product performance and value proposition throughout the lifecycle.
Technical & Regulatory Expertise
Write clear requirements and apply systems thinking across software, hardware, and clinical contexts.
Work with key stakeholders to navigate regulatory standards and compliance for medical devices; ensure claims are validated and products are approved for market use.
Research & Analytic Skills
Lead qualitative and quantitative research, including primary interviews, surveys and ethnographic research as well as secondary market and competitor analysis.
Evaluate emerging technologies, interpret quality data, and synthesize clinical literature to inform decision-making.
People & Team Management
Manage and coach product managers by setting expectations, driving performance, and fostering professional development consistent with organizational goals.
Bachelor's degree required, advanced degree preferred
6+ years as a people manager
12+ years in a medical device role
15+ years cumulative professional experience in product management, marketing, engineering, business development, or equivalent role

Responsibilities

Deliver products that advance Intuitive's Mission and the quintuple aim (Improved outcomes, patient satisfaction, Care Team satisfaction, cost-to-treat, and care equity) for customers globally.
Define and drive product strategy with clear, data-driven requirements and success criteria, informed by customer desirability, business viability, technology feasibility, and product market fit.
Establish and communicate a compelling product vision and scope that motivates organizational progress and cross-functional execution.
Ensure regulatory compliance and robust risk management throughout development and commercialization, including proactive identification of risks, mitigation strategies, and navigating trade-offs to maximize value.
Own product financials, including budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, and profitability goals to ensure business viability.
Lead ongoing customer research, validation, and usability testing to confirm needs, inform design decisions, and ensure the highest impact solutions move forward.
Transfer essential product knowledge to corporate and commercial teams, enabling effective training, marketing, and sales efforts.
Ensure product quality, regulatory approval, and supply continuity throughout the product lifecycle by engaging with engineering, corporate, and commercial teams.
Proactively identify and address gaps from early needs finding to post-launch support, continuously improving the product and supporting commercial teams with troubleshooting and regional escalations.
Forge synergy across teams to maintain momentum on product innovation and healthy stakeholder engagement.
Define, review, and report on product success metrics after launch to identify impact, adoption, and opportunities for improvement.
Lead, motivate, and develop a results-driven, value-centered team; remove obstacles, close performance gaps, and model desired culture and standards.