Supplier Engineer

Intuitive•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

It started with a simple idea: what if surgery could be less invasive and recovery less painful? Nearly 30 years later, that question still fuels everything we do at Intuitive . As a global leader in robotic-assisted surgery and minimally invasive care , our technologies—like the da Vinci surgical system and Ion —have transformed how care is delivered for millions of patients worldwide. We’re a team of engineers, clinicians, and innovators united by one purpose: to make surgery smarter, safer, and more human. Every day, our work helps care teams perform with greater precision and patients recover faster, improving outcomes around the world. The problems we solve demand creativity, rigor, and collaboration. The work is challenging, but deeply meaningful—because every improvement we make has the potential to change a life. If you’re ready to contribute to something bigger than yourself and help transform the future of healthcare , you’ll find your purpose here. Job Description Primary Function of Position: Responsible for ensuring suppliers meet ISI requirements for cost, quality, delivery and service. Drive suppliers to continuously improve business and manufacturing processes. Evaluate and collaborate on supplier selection with cross functional partners. Supports sustaining production, monitors and engages with suppliers to improve supplier performance .

Requirements

BS degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
Minimum 3 years related experience in Supplier Engineering/Development/Quality or related field
Excellent written and verbal communication skills including presentations to executive level management
Excellent Interpersonal skills and team building skills
Experience inimplementing Lean/6 Sigma/SPC Programs
Excellent Project Management skills
Excellent analytical and problem solving skills along with good judgment
Demonstrable knowledge in evaluating and challenging supplier technical, quality, and business capabilities
Knowledge of a wide range of manufacturing processes including understanding of key input variables for quality, cost and capacity (specialization can be in metal fabrication, plastics, electronics, and/or contract manufacturing) is a plus
Excellent knowledge of 21 CFR part 820 and ISO 13485
Significant computer experience using Windows, Word, Excel, Access and ERP Information Systems, preferably SAP
Proven ability to motivate suppliers
Ability to read and interpret detailed mechanical drawings and communicate technical information
Ability to travel to suppliers on an as needed basis – domestic and international

Nice To Haves

Experience in a high-volume medical device company is a plus

Responsibilities

Part qualification including pFMEAs, FAIRS, Cpk, Control Plans
Key point of contact for Ion BU to communicate Regulated Material requirements to suppliers, track and receive regulated materials declarations from suppliers, and verify the compliance status has been approved prior to qualifying the part for production.
Partner with Regulatory and Environmental Management teams to streamline processes with use of Lean, Six Sigma, and Process mapping and develop training for the supplier engineering team.
Obtain and monitor supplier hardware certifications and renewal dates to ensure part compliance across regions worldwide.
Support global expansion teams with managing and completing product labeling qualifications.
Support Environmental Management initiatives by obtaining part material information from suppliers and executing projects when needed to modify or change part to meet the new environmental regulations.
Supplier Corrective Action Request initiation, execution, and closure
Partner with global supply chain to optimize the supply base
Drive suppliers to continually improve their business and manufacturing process performance to meet Intuitive Surgical’s requirements for supplier excellence including ship to stock programs using a collection of best practices in project management, Six Sigma, Lean, SPC and negotiation
Utilize data-driven decisions to evaluate supplier part cost, delivery, quality, capacity and capability.
Apply metrics to measure real improvement and judge required intervention or change at the supplier or in a commodity.
Drive corrective actions for supplier process by driving suppliers to true root cause analysis and corrective and Preventive actions.
Provide effective and timely supply base health information to management
Prepare and deliver supplier communications as required by working with suppliers on scorecard creation of QBRs, Supplier Summits, etc.
Deliver the following Quality deliverables: pFMEA, Special Process Validations, FAI, and Cpk by leading suppliers through the pFMEA development, judging process validation requirements and signing-off on protocols as ISI rep, judging process capability with supplier as well as judging FAI suitability.
Develop the supplier business continuity / disaster recovery plans by managing suppliers to create plans, judge plans for risks and negotiate with suppliers to reduce risks.
Identify and investigate opportunities for cost reduction and/or quality improvement by judging opportunities and creating strategies to seize those opportunities, completes research and provides data-driven plans to management.
Review, analyze and close customer complaints, manufacturing variance requests, and first article inspections by judging risk analyses and justifications, determining corrective and preventive actions at suppliers, looks for opportunities with suppliers to eliminate recurrence.