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.

Were 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 Senior Software Engineer, AI Experience is a front-end–first senior engineering role
focused on designing and building the user-facing experience for intelligent, real-time AI
systems.

In this role, you will create the digital “experience layer” that connects complex AI agents,
computer vision systems, and real-time robotic data to users in intuitive, trustworthy, and
high-performance applications. You will rapidly prototype new ideas for user validation and
evolve successful concepts into robust, scalable software.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Design and build AI-driven user experiences: Lead the development of rich, interactive web (React, TypeScript) and mobile (Swift, Kotlin) apps, focused on making intelligent systems intuitive and usable.
• Own the AI experience layer: Partner with AI, computer vision, and robotics engineers to integrate Generative AI, ML models, and agentic systems into user-facing applications, translating complex capabilities into clear interaction patterns.
• Prototype and iterate rapidly: Quickly build functional prototypes to explore new concepts, gather user feedback, and validate ideas in clinical and pre-clinical environments.
• Visualize real-time data: Design and implement high-performance visualizations for real-time data streams, telemetry, and video, ensuring responsiveness and reliability.
• Contribute across the stack: While front-end focused, contribute to backend services and APIs (Node.js, Python, cloud services) to support end-to-end feature delivery.
• Apply systems thinking and collaborate: Work closely with multidisciplinary teams to ensure solutions align with technical constraints, user workflows, and clinical context.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with at least 2+ years in an R&D, innovation, or zero-to-one product environment.
• Front-End Expertise: Deep experience with modern JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystems, including React (or similar frameworks), state management, and responsive design.
• AI-Driven Interfaces: Experience building user interfaces that interact with AI systems (LLMs, computer vision), with a focus on handling asynchronous data, streaming responses, and variable latency.
• Problem Solving: Strong ability to structure problems, operate in ambiguity, and iterate toward effective solutions.
• R&D Mindset: Curiosity, adaptability, and comfort working with emerging technologies and incomplete requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in healthcare, robotics, or other complex technical domains.
• Prior work on AI agent interfaces, chat-based assistants, or autonomous system experiences.
• Mobile development experience using React Native, iOS/Swift, or similar frameworks.
• Experience with 3D visualization (Three.js, WebGL) or immersive technologies such as Unity.

Additional Information

• Travel: None
• Compensation: Competitive salary, equity, annual bonus, and comprehensive benefits.

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 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.

Mandatory Notices

U.S. Export Controls Disclaimer:  In accordance with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR §743.13(b)), some roles at Intuitive Surgical may be subject to U.S. export controls for prospective employees
who are nationals from countries currently on embargo or sanctions status.

Certain information you provide as part of the application will be used for purposes of determining whether Intuitive Surgical will need to (i) obtain an export license from the U.S. Government on your behalf (note: the government’s licensing process can take 3 to 6+ months) or (ii) implement a Technology Control Plan (“TCP”) (note: typically adds 2 weeks to the hiring process).  

For any Intuitive role subject to export controls, final offers are contingent upon obtaining an approved export license and/or an executed TCP prior to the prospective employee’s
start date, which may or may not be flexible, and within a timeframe that does not unreasonably impede the hiring need. If applicable, candidates will be notified and instructed on any requirements for these purposes. 

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 compensation ranges are listed.