Sr. Machine Learning Engineer, Medical Imaging

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.

Primary Function of Position

The Ion™ endoluminal system is Intuitive's new robotic platform for minimally invasive biopsy in the peripheral lung, with an initial goal of improving the early diagnosis of lung cancer. We are seeking a senior algorithm engineer to play a lead technical role in conceptualizing, designing, and evaluating our next-generation planning and guidance software. This role is dedicated to developing advanced algorithms to analyze chest medical images for complex lung diseases. This role focuses heavily on the processing and fusion of diverse imaging modalities-including CT, CBCT, and X-ray images-to perform robust lung structure segmentation, system navigation, target localization, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.

Essential Job Duties:

• Drive the full cycle of medical imaging analysis software development, developing algorithms from R&D concepts into robust, commercial medical device products.
• Design, prototype, and implement advanced medical imaging and machine learning algorithms tailored for advanced lung structure segmentation, registration, target localization, respiratory anomaly detection, and bronchial analysis.
• Apply and fine-tune state-of-the-art architectures, including nnU-Net, Vision Transformers (ViTs), DINO, Diffusion models, and Vision Language Models (VLMs), for clinical datasets.
• Architect and execute model deployment pipelines, seamlessly integrating trained models into high-performance C++ production environments, utilizing techniques like quantization, pruning, and hardware acceleration to ensure real-time performance on constrained medical systems.
• Support system integration and testing while generating formal design documentation and patent applications.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on industrial experience in algorithm development, with a deep specialization in medical imaging and computer vision. A proven track record of shipping commercial AI/ML software products is bonus.
• Exceptional proficiency in Python and C++, with a deep understanding of modern software component design for production environments.
• Proven hands-on experience with ML frameworks and software toolkits, including PyTorch, OpenCV, MONAI, ITK, VTK, and model optimization tools such as TensorRT or ONNX.
• Experience or knowledge of the development of AI/ML features in strict alignment with Good Machine Learning Practice (GMLP) principles, ensuring data representativeness and model transparency.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for effective cross-functional collaboration with clinical and engineering 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.

Accommodation & Accessibility Notice:

Intuitive is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance or an accommodation during any part of the application or interview process, please contact People Services at [email protected].

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.