Staff Electrical and Electronic Design Engineer - Future Forward

Intuitive•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

The Future Forward group within Intuitive Surgical is seeking a Staff Electrical and Electronic Design Engineer to architect, design, and bring up electronic hardware for next-generation robotic and vision systems. The role is part of a small, innovative team working in the early phases of product development, where schematic and architecture decisions shape overall system performance. The work supports Intuitive’s goal of improving surgical efficacy and reducing surgical invasiveness, with patient outcomes as the highest priority. The engineer owns analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuit design from concept through schematic capture, PCB layout direction, prototype bring-up, design verification, and manufacturing transfer. The role emphasizes designing for electromagnetic compatibility and signal integrity from the beginning, as well as diagnosing difficult board- and system-level failures. The successful candidate will bring integrity, care, attention to detail, and a commitment to high-quality products. The position works with Mechanical, Firmware, Software, Vision, and Test teams and with external suppliers and design partners. It also includes documenting work under Intuitive design controls, mentoring engineers, and helping shape design practices, reference designs, and the technology roadmap for future products.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience designing production electronics in the medical device, automotive, or robotics industry, including at least one product taken from concept to production.
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science.
Strong schematic design, review, and debugging skills across analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuits.
Practical EMC and EMI design and troubleshooting experience, with working knowledge of standards such as IEC 60601-1-2, CISPR 11/32, or the IEC 61000-4 immunity series.
Solid signal integrity and power integrity fundamentals for high-speed interfaces such as MIPI CSI-2, LVDS, PCIe, USB, DDR, or Ethernet, including impedance control, return paths, crosstalk, and decoupling.
Direct experience with imaging and vision hardware, motor drive electronics, or precision sensing, and with transferring designs into manufacturing and production test.
Laboratory proficiency with oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, near-field probes, and logic or protocol analyzers.
Experience working with embedded interfaces such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, USB, and Ethernet, and using Python or MATLAB for test automation and data analysis.
Clear communication and strong documentation habits, with the ability to lead technical decisions, work independently, and mentor others.

Nice To Haves

Master of Science degree preferred.
Experience with Altium Designer, Cadence OrCAD/Allegro, or Siemens Xpedition.
Experience under a regulated quality system such as ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR Part 820, IEC 60601-1, and ISO 14971, or automotive functional safety such as ISO 26262.
FPGA design experience with VHDL or SystemVerilog.

Responsibilities

Design analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuits from concept through schematic capture, layout direction, prototype bring-up, and transfer to manufacturing.
Lead schematic and design reviews and guide PCB layout for signal integrity, power integrity, and manufacturability.
Design for EMC and EMI from the start using grounding, shielding, filtering, isolation, and ESD protection; support pre-compliance and compliance testing.
Bring up and debug prototypes in the lab, driving hardware issues to root cause and a verified fix.
Integrate sensors, cameras, illumination, motor drives, and compute platforms in partnership with Mechanical, Firmware, Software, Vision, and Test teams.
Document designs, verification protocols, and results under Intuitive design controls.
Mentor engineers and help shape design practices, reference designs, and the technology roadmap for future products.
Direct external suppliers and design partners for camera, sensor, optics, and PCBA subsystems, setting technical direction and holding builds to schedule and quality targets.