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.

Supplier Engineering’s mission is to ensure supply continuity for purchased parts at the lowest landed cost.  The Supplier Engineering (SE) organization comprises of 3 functions.

• Supply Chain Engineering: Partners closely with the Global Supply Chain (GSC) Organization. Builds supplier process excellence and global tooling to grow spending with preferred suppliers to > 80%, and to reduce cost
• New Product Introduction SE: Partners closely with the New Product Launch team. Takes a new product from Go-Active, to Product Launch and completes the required stabilization metrics (FMR) to transfer to the Plant SE team. The Final Manufacturing Review (FMR) exists to ensure components are manufacturable, scalable, at the lowest landed cost, and of the highest quality.
• Plant SE: Partners closely with Plant operations organization. Ensures smooth and efficient scaling of the business for our sustaining products and supports the transfer of new products into those facilities.

The successful candidate will develop and lead a team of New Product Introduction Supplier Engineers.  Key Objectives of this role are:

• Build trust with the cross-functional NPI teams (GSC, DE, ME, QE, PM). Act as the Supply Chain (GSC and SE) voice.
• Reduce design-related issues in production.
• Ensure smooth scale-up during product ramp.
• Lowers total cost and supply chain risks by mitigating risks upstream.
• Develop and qualify capable processes with suppliers for new parts, assemblies, and finished products.
• Stabilize the supply chain, to transfer new products to the Plant SE Team

The value to the business is high-quality purchased parts that meet requirements, new product development timelines, and ensuring smooth scale-up and transfer to sustaining manufacturing.

Essential Job Duties:

Lead a team of supplier engineers who deliver value to the business through the following activities.

• Supply-chain Strategy: Develop and execute a global supply-chain strategy and roadmap for a long-term, sustainable, and resilient supply-chain to support Intuitive’s Product strategy and roadmap.
• Supplier Selection: Conduct market research to identify trends in your commodity area and accordingly select and evaluate suppliers to enable Agility and innovation during New Product Introduction, and to enable production scale globally for products that reach broad commercial launch. Establish a strong partnership with the NPI sourcing team to incorporate commercial viability in the supplier selection process.
• Supplier Development and collaboration: Drive and adopt new technologies and automation in the supply chain to achieve high efficiency and production scale. Champion best practices like DFX, Lean, SPC, Six-sigma, Project management, in the supply chain. Establish clear communication channels with suppliers and manage both technical and business relationships
• Supplier Performance and Monitoring: Partner closely with suppliers to select optimal mfg process and process controls to achieve high quality and cost performance. Develop effective KPIs to monitor supplier performance (delivery, capacity, cost, quality). Execute projects towards continuous improvements of KPIs.
• Supplier Compliance: Partner with Supplier Quality team to drive audit finding resolution with suppliers through processes like CAPA and SCARs to maintain compliance with QMS requirements
• Supplier Risk management: Partner with Global Supply Chain and Design Engineering teams to identify various risks within the supply chain and implement mitigation measures.

• Supplier Change management: For commercially launched products, execute Intuitive’s change management processes like major/moderate change (MCF), Supplier Change Request (SCR) and Change Order (CO) to support large-scale projects towards capacity scaling, cost reduction, product quality improvement, and supply-chain risk mitigation.
• Stakeholder Influence: Aligning/Negotiating on project ownership and hand-off points with various peer Supplier engineering groups (like New Product Introduction, Mfg Plant support, Tooling development). Influencing decisions with key partners in Global Ops (planning, sourcing, purchasing), Engineering (Design, Process, Quality) and Project Management Org.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proven ability to lead teams to solve complex technical and process problems.
• Proven ability to hire highly capable staff and grow and mentor staff.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentations to executives.
• Demonstrated project management skills, ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders to deliver projects on time.
• Broad Domain knowledge expertise in plastics, metals, electronics, motion control components, etc. Demonstrable knowledge of a wide range of manufacturing processes and measurement techniques. Deep understanding of key input variables for quality, cost, schedule, and capacity.
• Outstanding analytical skills along with good judgment.
• Proficiency in Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing techniques; certification preferred.
• Knowledge of document management systems and ERP Systems, preferably Agile and SAP.
• Knowledge of 21 CFR part 820 and ISO 13485 preferred.
• Experience in a high-volume medical device company is a plus.
• Ability to travel to suppliers on an as-needed basis – domestic and international (25%).

Required Education and Training:

• BS degree in engineering, advanced degree preferred
• 8+ years related experience in Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Supplier Quality, Supplier Development, or related field with significant medical or medical device experience and a demonstrated track record of launching new products preferred
• 3+ years of experience leading teams.

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.

This position may be filled at a different job level than listed here depending on
business need and/or on the selected candidate’s experience, knowledge and skills.
Compensation will be based primarily on the job level at which the role is filled and the
candidate’s qualifications, consistent with applicable law.

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.