Staff Software Engineer, Architecture

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

We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and hands-on

engineering across the organization. This role will operate across cloud infrastructure, backend

services and APIs, and data platforms, with a focus on architecture, engineering standards, and

implementation. The successful candidate will serve as a senior individual contributor who

combines architectural judgment with technical execution.

Essential Job Duties (Specific responsibilities and tasks an individual would be expected to

perform in the role. Additional job duties may be determined by functional people manager)

 Provide technical leadership across cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, and

data platforms, ensuring that engineering practices are consistent, scalable, and broadly

adoptable across the organization.

 Contribute hands-on design and implementation to high-priority projects, with the ability

to dive deep across multiple software domains.

 Design and develop engineering patterns for APIs, service boundaries, data contracts,

deployment models, observability, and operational reliability.

 Contribute to design of data services such as file and event

ingestion and processing, as well as data platforms with

governed data access for analytics teams.

 Lead architecture and design reviews for cross-team

initiatives, helping the team make technical tradeoffs and

align with platform standards.

 Help establish and reinforce standards for infrastructure as code, CI/CD, automated

testing, versioning, documentation, and health and operability requirements across

service and platforms.

 Work closely with infrastructure, product, quality, and security to ensure solutions meet

business, operational, and regulatory requirements.

 Mentor engineers across teams, raising the bar for design and implementation quality

Required Skills and Experience (Specific skills, knowledge, and experience that an individual

must possess in order to successfully perform in job)

 Deep experience building complex software systems across multiple domains such as

cloud infrastructure, backend services and APIs, data processing systems, and platform

engineering.

 Proficient in one or more modern programming languages such as Go, Python, Java, or

related.

 Strong experience designing and operating APIs and backend services with clear

contracts, versioning, backward compatibility, documentation, authentication and

authorization, and observability.

 Strong experience with cloud-native development and platform engineering in AWS,

including infrastructure automation, environment design, deployment patterns, and

security controls.

 Experience with GitLab CI, automated build and test pipelines, artifact publication,

release automation, and production deployment practices for services and platforms.

 Experience with Terraform or similar infrastructure-as-code and reusable platform

patterns that improve consistency, delivery speed, and developer self-service.

 Experience with data ingestion, event-driven systems, and stream or batch processing

architectures using technologies such as Kafka, Spark, Flink, Airflow, or similar.

 Experience with relational and NoSQL databases such as Postgres, DynamoDB, or

similar, service-side data modeling, and transactional system design.

 Strong understanding of software quality practices,

including unit, integration, and end-to-end testing, along

with traceability and artifact publication.

 Strong understanding of reliability, incident response, and

operational support for business-critical systems.

 Proven ability to influence technical direction across multiple teams through strong design

judgment, collaboration, and clear communication.

 Experience mentoring engineers and improving engineering standards.

 Excellent problem-solving skills and a collaborative mindset.

Required Education and Training (As applicable - Specific education and training that an

individual must possess in order to successfully perform in job)

- Bachelor's or Master’s degree in computer science or related field.

- Minimum of 10 years relevant experience in software engineering, data platforms, and

related functions.

Working Conditions (As applicable - Any physical requirements for the job. If not applicable, state

“none”)

None

Preferred Skills and Experience (As applicable - Specific skills, knowledge, and experience that

are not required to perform the job, but are desirable to have)

- Experience working with medical devices or other regulated industries.

- Experience with defining and implementing data privacy requirements.

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.

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].