Staff Mechanical Engineer (Flexible Instruments)

Intuitive • Sunnyvale, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Staff Mechanical Engineer, Advanced Energy, serves as a technical and design lead developing advanced energy products and subsystems. The role drives work from early concept exploration through commercialization, translating ambiguous clinical and technical needs into robust architectures and leading rapid prototype iterations to address technical risks. The engineer applies deep mechanical, materials, and manufacturing expertise while collaborating across disciplines to troubleshoot and determine root causes of system issues.

The position investigates and develops advanced energy applications for novel clinical uses across Intuitive’s robotic surgical systems. It calls for end-to-end ownership, strong communication and cross-functional collaboration, high-quality prototypes, data-driven decisions, scalable designs, and a commitment to product quality. The engineer works in a small, high-energy team and supports design, development, verification, and product transfer activities.

The role is based in Sunnyvale, California, requires full-time availability and commuting to or relocating to that location, and involves up to 10% travel; some international travel may be required. Current proof of vaccination against certain diseases may be required depending on the role and customer requirements.

Requirements

• Typically at least 12 years of relevant experience, or at least 8 years with a master's degree.
• Demonstrated success as a technical and/or design lead on cross-functional R&D teams, influencing decisions across engineering, testing, clinical, quality, and manufacturing.
• Ability to originate novel concepts and rapidly turn ideas into functional prototypes to evaluate technical feasibility and clinical value.
• Track record of working effectively in highly ambiguous environments with limited data, identifying key risks, and prioritizing experiments to accelerate learning.
• Ability to decide what to prototype versus analyze while balancing speed, risk reduction, and long-term scalability.
• Expertise in structured problem-solving and rapid build-test-learn design iteration.
• Deep technical experience in multiple catheter and flexible-instrument design areas, such as shaft construction (coils, braids, liners, and jackets), adhesives and bonding, sealing and insulation, electrical component integration, and thermal management.
• Hands-on experience with rapid prototyping methods for flexible instruments and components, including 3D printing, plastics processing, metal fabrication, and bench-level assembly.
• Proficiency in CAD-based mechanical design.
• Experience across the product development lifecycle, including proof of concept, design, implementation, debugging, verification, qualification, and transfer.
• High autonomy and ability to work independently with limited supervision to determine and develop approaches to solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present tradeoffs, risks, and technical rationale to varied audiences.
• Experience with FDA QSR 21 CFR Part 820, ISO 13485, ISO 14971, and related standards.
• Minimum education: BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Biomedical Engineering, or a related engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent work experience.
• Must be available to work full-time and commute to or relocate to Sunnyvale, CA.
• Up to 10% travel; some international travel may be required.

Nice To Haves

• SolidWorks experience is preferred.
• Experience with energy delivery devices.
• Experience with flexible electromechanical device development.
• Understanding of medical system integration and interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Work in a small cross-functional project team to design, develop, and verify concepts for advanced energy catheters and/or flexible electromechanical instruments.
• Define early product architecture, interfaces, and design requirements, and translate feasibility prototypes into scalable products.
• Develop, implement, test, and document solutions, processes, and designs according to corporate standards and departmental procedures.
• Assemble and test devices hands-on for proof-of-concept, design development, pre-clinical, and verification and validation activities.
• Investigate emerging design or manufacturing defects and failures and determine their root causes.
• Develop and document design and manufacturing materials, including inspection procedures, assembly instructions, test methods, purchase specifications, bills of materials, and part and assembly drawings, using appropriate change-control procedures.
• Collaborate with clinical engineering to assess product concepts and conduct tradeoff analyses 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; support pre-clinical labs and clinical cases.
• Establish individual goals consistent with overall project goals.
• Perform other duties as required to support the company's overall strategy and goals.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior