Software Engineer, Systems Engineer

• Ways of Working:
  Set Schedule - This job will be onsite weekly, the percentage of onsite work will be defined by the leader.
• Employee Type:
  Employee
• Min. Salary Region 1: 213200 USD
• Global Job Level (HCM):
  Professional 5 (13)
• Min. Salary Region 2: 181200 USD

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.

Primary Function of Position

The Staff Software Engineer will play a critical role in building and evolving the embedded networking and connectivity software that underpins Intuitive’s surgical robotic platforms. This role sits within the IoMT & Platform Integration team and focuses on the system-side software that enables secure, reliable communication between robotic systems, adjacent platform components, and cloud services.

This is a Staff-level role requiring deep embedded systems expertise, strong networking fundamentals, and the ability to operate as a technical lead—owning designs, solving complex production issues, and guiding other engineers through influence and mentorship. The work spans both new capability development and support of released, in-market systems.

• Embedded Networking & Systems Development
  • Design, develop, and maintain embedded networking software running on robotic or IoT systems
  • Implement and evolve communication mechanisms using protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, Web Sockets, MQTT, gRPC, or pub/sub models
  • Contribute to system architecture that balances performance, reliability, security, and long-term maintainability across hardware generations
  • Support fielded products, including root cause analysis and resolution of complex production issues
• Enable robust device-to-platform and device-to-cloud integration, primarily with AWS-based infrastructure
• Collaborate with partner teams to ensure embedded systems integrate cleanly with backend services
• Design connectivity with awareness of latency, bandwidth, uptime, and operational constraints typical of embedded systems
• Security, Quality & Reliability
  • Design software that meets security, safety, and reliability expectations appropriate for surgical systems
  • Implement secure communication mechanisms (e.g., encryption, authentication, authorization)
  • Participate in risk analysis activities (e.g., FMEA) and implement software mitigations as needed
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with QA, Product Management, Cybersecurity, Regulatory Affairs, and Clinical teams
  • Support the full software development lifecycle, from requirements through verification and release
  • Communicate design intent, tradeoffs, and risks clearly across technical and non-technical audiences
• Staff-Level Technical Leadership
  • Act as a technical lead on complex problems and initiatives
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to other engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and day-to-day collaboration
  • Drive clarity and alignment in ambiguous or evolving problem spaces

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field (Master’s preferred)
• 8+ years of hands-on experience developing software for embedded, robotic, or IoT systems
• Strong proficiency in Python, with meaningful experience in C/C++ for system services, tooling, or integration
• Solid experience with network protocols…