Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Primary Function of the Position
The Senior Embedded Software Engineer will work with a group of talented and dedicated people to
improve and extend Intuitive’s surgical robotic product lines. The successful candidate will contribute to
the Product Engineering Software Engineering Group, with focused contribution on embedded software
for da Vinci™ Surgical System products. As a member of the team, you will be involved in delivering
features to the surgical customer by integrating complex functionality into complete surgical robot
solutions and seeing these through to product release as well as resolving issues after release if
necessary. The successful candidate must excel in a high-energy small, focused team environment, be
able to drive to solutions from rough requirements, and have a commitment to high product quality. Quick
learning and a desire to understand requirements and create solutions are essential to become a
valuable integrator and system developer. A strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is
required, as is the ability to make work fun and interesting. Supporting you will be a development and
management team that knows and cares about what you are doing and wants you to succeed.
Essential Job Duties

• Contribute to the development of software risks, hazards, mitigations, requirements,
specifications, designs, reliability, modularity, extensibility, and verification & validation.
• Ability and desire to read and understand a legacy codebase that includes low-level and multi-
processing heterogeneous networked processors.
• Develop new features and investigate and resolve design issues.
• Collaborate with other engineering disciplines and groups.
• Support field service and manufacturing organizations.
• Contribute to multiple areas of software development for our distributed multi-processor systems,
including but not limited to the following areas:
o Video and/or servo hardware control and monitoring.
o Inter-processor communication subsystem development.
o Extension of current processing frameworks to new processors and hardware designs.
o System diagnostic and service application development
o User interface development.
o Control and integration of external OEM devices.
o Development of research prototypes used to evaluate new product concepts.
o Contribute to the definition and specification of future designs.
o Support root cause analysis and issue resolution for released products and products in
production.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience
• Experience developing embedded software in C/C++.
• Experience with Matlab, Python, or other scripting languages.
• Experience developing cross-platform software

• Experience with bare metal, real-time operating systems, and multithreaded programming.
• Experience in low level driver development in embedded platforms.
• Experience working with circuit board schematics and component data sheets.
• Excellent debugging skill and strong ability to root cause and isolate system issues.
• Experience in all phases of software development including evaluation, planning and definition,
design & implementation, Verification & Validation, Market Launch, and Post Market.
• Experience in working and supporting manufacturing organizations.

• Ability to build and maintain relationships across supported organizations.
• Excellent communication and documentation skills.
• Experience with build systems such as Bazel, GNU Make and CMake, EMake.
• Experience with revision control systems such as Git and SVN.
Required Education and Training
• Bachelor/Master/PhD degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software
Engineering, or Computer Science or equivalent work experience.
• 8+ years industry experience in developing and supporting embedded systems.
Working Conditions
• None
Preferred Skills and Experience
• Experience designing software products in an FDA or other regulated industry.
• Experience with hardware design.
• Experience with UI design.
• Experience with QNX, QML, and Qt.

• Experience with Verilog/VHDL to read and understand designs.

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): Durham, NC

Job ID: 3446ab43-6dc9-45f4-8861-d59618e05cac

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2025-12-03T01:31:35