At Intuitive, we are united behind our mission: we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.

As a pioneer and market leader in robotic-assisted surgery, we strive to foster an inclusive and diverse team, committed to making a difference. For more than 25 years, we have worked with hospitals and care teams around the world to help solve some of healthcare's hardest challenges and advance what is possible.

Intuitive has been built by the efforts of great people from diverse backgrounds. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We strive to foster an inclusive culture built around diversity of thought and mutual respect. We lead with inclusion and empower our team members to do their best work as their most authentic selves.

Passionate people who want to make a difference drive our culture. Our team members are grounded in integrity, have a strong capacity to learn, the energy to get things done, and bring diverse, real world experiences to help us think in new ways. We actively invest in our team members to support their long-term growth so they can continue to advance our mission and achieve their highest potential.

Join a team committed to taking big leaps forward for a global community of healthcare professionals and their patients. Together, let's advance the world of minimally invasive care.

Primary Function of Position

Intuitive Surgical manufactures the da Vinci SimNow Simulator for use in the training of the da Vinci surgical systems. The da Vinci is used in minimally-invasive surgical applications. Virtual reality (VR) simulation plays an important role in the improvement of surgeon technical skills of robot-assisted surgery. The Senior Simulation Software Engineer position offers an opportunity for a candidate with exceptional software and virtual reality/video games engineering skills to develop novel VR surgical simulation technologies to support the Simulator portfolio. A successful candidate will be equally comfortable developing simulation software interfaces to highly-complex robotic systems and instruments. In this role you will work closely with various groups such as engineering, design, art, human factors, education and clinical engineering teams to develop cutting edge simulation technologies to advance our training products.  Experience in developing custom physics engines, and generating realistic simulation of clinical environments in terms of rendering, physics, and interaction are highly desired. 

Essential Job Duties

• Work under the guidance of the Sr Manager – Simulation Product Development  
• Extend and improve the simulation pipeline in terms of fidelity and realism 
• Implement real time simulation for robotic surgery, this includes utilizing commercial game engines as well as research and development of custom physics engines 
• Research, prototype and develop new simulation technologies and ideas to push the cutting edge of our simulation content 
• Collaborate with other engineers and 3D technical artists  
• Analyze videos and images of real clinical procedures to improve the simulation software 
• Working in a shared code base, implementing proper development principles  
• Find the sweet spots between performance optimization, robustness and visual fidelity 
• Understand the da Vinci Robotics Platform streaming API’s and be able to consume streaming data inside our rendering engines. 
• Develop software adhering to the ISI coding standards and good software development practices (unit testability, source code control, etc.) 
• Simulation software engineers have a responsibility for ensuring that medical device designs meet product quality requirements and comply with the design control processes in the Quality Management System, as appropriate. 
• Execute systematic and aggressive evidence-based troubleshooting techniques 

Required Skills and Experience 

• Minimum 5 years of professional hands-on experience in one of the following: 
  • 3D simulation development 
  • Real-time physics engine development 
• Exceptional C++ and\or C# coding and architecture capabilities 
• Solid mathematical knowledge with emphasis on linear algebra  
• Ability to learn and work independently to deliver high quality code 
• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following: Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics 
• Generalist – not bound to specific tools to solve a problem 
• Ability to understand complex systems from high level to low level components 

Required Education and Training

• Minimum education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related fields

Preferred Skills and Experience 

• Experience using Unreal Engine and\or Unity  
• Experience with physical simulation SDK such as PhysX  
• Experience in python (numpy, pytest, opencv, open3d) 
• Experience in computer vision 
• Experience with soft body \ tissue imaging and simulation 
• Experience with medical applications \ medical imaging application development is an advantage 
• Blender or other 3D modeling platforms experience 

Due to the nature of our business and the role, please note that Intuitive and/or your customer(s) may require that you show current proof of vaccination against certain diseases including COVID-19.  Details can vary by role.

Intuitive is an Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action 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.

EEO and AA Policy

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.

Preference will be given to qualified candidates who do not reside, or plan to reside, in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Tennessee.

We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay, incentives, benefits, and equity. It would not be typical for someone to be hired at the top end of range for the role, as actual pay will be determined based on several factors, including experience, skills, and qualifications. The target salary ranges are listed.