Sr. Manager, Clinical Research Engineering

Job Description

Intuitive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees, and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type, without regard to race, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, color, age, religion, protected veteran or disability status, genetic information or any other status protected under federal, state, or local applicable laws.

The Senior Manager, Clinical Research Engineering will lead teams of Clinical Research Engineers in the development of highly effective robotic systems that ultimately improve clinical outcomes for patients. The Sr. Manager will serve as a technical and clinical leader in the design and development of new product concepts, guiding programs from early concept through commercial launch. Leveraging deep clinical, scientific, and engineering expertise, this role partners with engineers, physicians, interaction designers, human factors specialists, training teams, technical publications, and other internal and external stakeholders to shape product and procedural innovation.

The position also serves as lead for clinical support for early-stage feasibility and confirmatory clinical studies, including proctoring, case observation, and synthesis of clinical insights to inform technology advancement.

• Apply in-depth clinical knowledge and technical system understanding in defining and developing products based on clinical needs
• Collaborate with physicians and key clinical users on clinical procedure development and understanding product feedback
• Clearly define clinical need and requirements for product
• Develop test models and test methods for clinically relevant product evaluations.
• Assess potential clinical risks and propose mitigations as an input to product design
• Provide strategic leadership in both individual and team leader capacity for the design and development of new product concepts from early feasibility through commercial launch, leveraging deep clinical, scientific, and technical expertise.
• Leadership for team to conduct comprehensive research into disease states, procedural workflows, and emerging medical technologies to establish subject-matter expertise and guide innovation strategy.
• Partner with marketing, clinical, and physician stakeholders to define market needs and translate them into user‑centric platform, procedure, instrument, and accessory designs.
• Lead and collaborate with engineers/CREs and clinicians to establish and validate clinical performance objectives, safety considerations, and usability targets for early‑phase technologies.
• Architect, manage and execute clinical de‑risking strategies—including pre‑clinical and feasibility studies—to accelerate technology readiness and ensure robust clinical adoption potential.
• Manage structured design iteration cycles, incorporating internal evaluations and targeted feedback from key opinion leaders (KOLs) to refine concepts and mitigate risk.
• Define, manage and implement pre‑clinical evaluation protocols to support regulatory submissions and first‑in‑human trials.
• Support regulatory teams in preparing submission‑ready technical and clinical documentation.
• Apply a data‑driven, analytical approach to identify opportunities for product enhancement and portfolio expansion.

• Manage planning and execution of early‑stage feasibility, pilot, and pivotal clinical trials to inform technology development, regulatory strategy, and reimbursement pathways.
• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize product enhancements and new product opportunities based on clinical needs, market trends, and physician feedback.
• Gather, analyze, and synthesize clinical insights from case observations and study data to refine product requirements, inform training programs, and proactively address clinical risks.
• Direct prototype evaluations in clinical environments, translating complex user feedback into actionable engineering requirements to accelerate development timelines.
• Drive the generation of intellectual property by conceptualizing novel…