Senior Director, Enterprise AI

Company Description

At Intuitive, we are united behind our mission: we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.

As a pioneer and market leader in robotic-assisted surgery, we strive to foster an inclusive and diverse team, committed to making a difference. For more than 25 years, we have worked with hospitals and care teams around the world to help solve some of healthcare's hardest challenges and advance what is possible.

Intuitive has been built by the efforts of great people from diverse backgrounds. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We strive to foster an inclusive culture built around diversity of thought and mutual respect. We lead with inclusion and empower our team members to do their best work as their most authentic selves.

Passionate people who want to make a difference drive our culture. Our team members are grounded in integrity, have a strong capacity to learn, the energy to get things done, and bring diverse, real world experiences to help us think in new ways. We actively invest in our team members to support their long-term growth so they can continue to advance our mission and achieve their highest potential.

Join a team committed to taking big leaps forward for a global community of healthcare professionals and their patients. Together, let's advance the world of minimally invasive care.

Job Description

We are seeking a highly strategic and results-oriented leader to lead our AI team. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Enterprise Data, Analytics, and AI, this is a critical leadership role responsible for defining and executing a comprehensive Data Science and AI strategy that serves all our business functions.

The candidate will be a visionary leader with a proven track record of designing and deploying AI solutions at scale. This role is crucial for our organization's next phase of growth, as it will be responsible for building a common foundation for our Generative AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science initiatives to accelerate value delivery and prevent fragmented solutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop AI Strategy: Help define and articulate a comprehensive enterprise AI strategy that aligns with business objectives and provides a unified approach to AI development and deployment.
• Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and grow a team of high-performing AI practitioners (data scientists, ML engineers, statisticians) responsible for building and deploying production-ready AI solutions.
• Demand Prioritization: Working in partnership with the Enterprise AI Core Team to establish and manage a clear, repeatable process for prioritizing AI use cases from across the company, ensuring projects with the highest business value and strategic impact are selected.
• Build a Common Foundation: Architect and oversee the development of a unified AI platform and toolkit to serve as the foundation for all AI solutions, ensuring consistency, scalability, and efficiency.
• Stakeholder Management: Work in partnership with the portfolio management team to align with leaders from every business function to understand their needs, manage expectations, and evangelize the value of AI.
• Governance and Ethics: Work in partnership with the AI Governance team to enforce strong governance frameworks, including ethical AI principles and responsible use guidelines.
• Technology and Innovation: Stay abreast of the latest trends in Generative AI, machine learning, and data science, and lead the charge in adopting innovative technologies that create a competitive advantage.
• Deployment to Production: Guide the team in the end-to-end lifecycle of AI projects, from ideation and development to successful deployment, monitoring, and maintenance in a production environment. To accomplish this, partnering closely with the data engineering team in ensuring access to relevant, high-quality data.
• AI Literacy & Change Management: Drive the necessary organizational change by developing and implementing company-wide AI training and education programs to foster AI literacy, build internal capability, enable personal productivity, and ensure responsible, informed adoption of AI tools across all business functions in driving organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

 

Qualifications

• Experience: 15+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or a related field, with a proven track record of delivering impactful production systems with at least 10 years in a leadership role.
• Technical Skills & Platform Leadership:
  • Enterprise AI/ML Proficiency: Deep expertise across the full spectrum of AI technologies, including classical Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and advanced Generative AI/Large Language Model (LLM) architectures (e.g., RAG systems, fine-tuning).
  • MLOps Mastery: Proven ability to define and implement enterprise-grade MLOps frameworks, including automated model CI/CD pipelines, feature stores, model registries, and production monitoring/drift detection.
  • Cloud and Data Foundation: Hands-on architectural experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), specifically around managed data science services and scalable data pipelines (e.g., Spark, cloud data warehousing solutions).
  • Programming and tools: Expert-level proficiency in programming languages like Python or R and extensive experience with ML libraries such as TensorFlow, Vertex AI, PyTorch, etc.
  • Data Engineering: A strong background in data engineering with development experience in building data products/services in a cloud-based data platforms will be highly desirable.
  • Roadmap Definition: Demonstrated ability to define a future-state technology roadmap that balances technical debt reduction with cutting-edge innovation in the AI space.
• Proven Track Record: Proven track record of leading multiple AI/ML programs from initiation through development and deployment with quantified success metrics.
• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated ability to translate business challenges into actionable AI strategies and roadmaps
• Communication: Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Leadership: Exceptional people leader with strong leadership and team-building skills, with a passion for mentoring and growing data science talent and fostering of continuous culture of innovation.
• Culture: Deeply passionate about creating a team culture with a strong emphasis on execution, customer advocacy, cross-functional collaboration, and a fun working and knowledge sharing environment.
• Education: A bachelor's, master's, or Ph.D in Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Applied Math, Engineering, or a related field.

 

Additional Information

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.

Client-provided location(s): Sunnyvale, CA

Job ID: 87fa0713-7b5c-476b-9f64-d7b8e511ed8e

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2025-11-17T19:25:48