Senior Manager Mechanical Design Engineering, GI Robot
Intuitive · San Francisco Bay Area
📍 San Francisco, CA, usvia smartrecruitersPosted 2026-09-09
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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.
The Future Forward organization is Intuitive’s advanced concepts group. We explore emerging technologies, prototype next-generation solutions, and build software experiences that shape the future of robotic-assisted surgery.
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
Intuitive Surgical designs and manufactures highly complex mechanical systems for use in surgery. These systems include both capital equipment and “consumables” in the form of surgical instruments and accessories. The Senior Mechanical Design Engineering Manager, Systems is responsible for leading a team of engineers that design, develop, and launch new products to the field. The candidate will lead a team to identify and evaluate new product opportunities that address new and unmet needs. The successful candidate must have technical depth in relevant areas and be as comfortable collaborating and leading across organizational boundaries as they are working independently. The new GI Robot Platform team is searching for a Senior Mechanical Design Engineering Manager to guide the development, documentation, and verification of new product designs to meet the needs of our customers. The Mechanical Engineering Manager is responsible for the functional management of a group of Mechanical Engineers and other technical personnel, which includes selecting, developing, and evaluating personnel to ensure efficient operation of the group.
Essential Job Duties
Provide vision for technical project team and foster environment that encourages creativity, risk taking, and crisp execution
Develop working knowledge of external customer needs/requirements to ensure product designs provide value to patients, physicians and hospitals
Establish group objectives and individual work goals consistent with overall product development goals
Assign tasks, set priorities, establish metrics, and track progress
Assess employee performance and provide coaching to improve performance
Manage, coach, and mentor engineers, technicians, and drafters as required
Ensure design engineers follow appropriate design history file guidelines per FDA requirements and hold design reviews in accordance with product development procedures
Provide engineering resources to support Process Development, Manufacturing, Supplier Engineering, Test Engineering, and Quality to facilitate transfer of designs
Provide administrative leadership / control for planning, staffing, budgeting, and project/program cost tracking
Build and maintain strong partnerships with cross-functional stakeholders including Product Management, Clinical Research, Clinical and Medical Affairs, Process Development, Testing, Supplier, Quality, Regulatory Affairs and Marketing to ensure alignment throughout product development and lifecycle management
Serve as the primary R&D liaison to senior leadership and in cross-functional meetings, presenting technical updates, design rationale, and risk mitigation strategies
Required Skills and Experience
At least ten (10) years of experience with mechanical product design
Minimum 5 years of experience directly managing people
Minimum 5 years of experience taking products from concept to production
Required Education and Training
Minimum BS (Mechanical Engineering or related engineering field), MS or PhD preferred.
Working Conditions
NA
Preferred Skills and Experience
Must be a selfless leader who inspires trust and commitment within their team and in the broader organization through integrity, passion, and professional excellence.
Medical product experience preferred
Comfortable with all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, debug, verification, qualification, and transfer.
Hands-on engineering manager with the proven ability to work well in a team environment.
Ability to lead/influence cross functional teams in the design of complex surgical products.
Excellent verbal communication and presentation skills.
Ability to present the work of their team to executive management.
Strong people management abilities with capability to ensure team success (staffing, productivity) as well as career development of team members.
Exceptional mechanical aptitude and visual thinking skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills such as finite element analysis, statistics, and experimental designs.
Proficiency using CAD to design and document mechanical designs.
SolidWorks preferred.
Breadth of knowledge in various manufacturing techniques, including techniques for rapidly fabricating proof-of-concept and functional prototypes.
Experience with component selection criteria, and design for reliability and manufacturability.
Strong project management, planning, and change management skills.
Experience designing products in a highly regulated environment.
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. D
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