Job Description
Position’s Objective & Summary:
The Senior Tender Specialist plays a vital role in supporting the Tender Manager in developing and continually improving Intuitive’s tender management organization and processes, while also managing individual tender submissions to ensure compliance with company policies and relevant laws.
Operating with a high degree of autonomy, the Senior Tender Specialist oversees end-to-end tender processes across multiple markets, actively contributes to pre-tender shaping and high-level negotiations, and drives process, policy, and governance enhancements within Intuitive’s tender function.
Serving as both a senior internal advisor and an external representative on tender matters, the Senior Tender Specialist engages with senior customer stakeholders, public buyers, and public hospitals organizations, routinely resolving complex, multi-stakeholder tender issues and leading cross-functional tender initiatives.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Tender Process Management
Manage tender submission processes in a designated territorial and language area. The scope of the related tasks would entail among others the following:
- Efficiently manage and coordinate tender preparation, submission, and follow-up processes with stakeholders within and outside Intuitive.
- Have a strategic understanding of tender submission in the designated territorial area.
- Assess tender requirements and documents to prepare tender submissions and to ensure compliance with Intuitive’s strategies, policies, and applicable laws.
- Develop negotiation strategy and conduct negotiations of commercial and contract terms at a professional level within delegated authority and company policy and applicable laws.
- Structure transaction recommendations in coordination with Finance and Legal to balance commercial objectives with governance and compliance.
- Draft tender and contractual documents.
- Act as internal advisor for tender processes and specific tender submissions.
- Maintain and monitor records of tender submissions and ongoing tender processes.
- Maintain databases for pre-tendering activities, submitted tenders and signed agreements.
- Generate tender and contract related reports as required.
Pre-tender Customer Engagement
- Join and contribute to pre-tender engagements with customers, value-education and market access activities with senior customer stakeholders, public buyers, IDNs and GPOs as applicable.
- Organize and lead tender simulations, customer educational events and negotiation preparation sessions in collaboration with Commercial and local teams.
- Build and maintain networks with purchasers and decision makers to influence procurement outcomes.
Market Intelligence & Reporting
- Proactively monitor tender announcements, competitive activity and procurement trends; translate insights into actionable recommendations for Commercial leadership.
- Maintain accurate records of outstanding submissions, signed agreements and key performance metrics.
Tender Process Development
- Assessing and identifying development areas regarding Intuitive’s tender management.
- Support in refining and optimizing Intuitive’s tender management organization to ensure best-in-class tendering processes.
- Lead and contribute to process, policy and governance development initiatives to strengthen tender management practices, controls and templates.
- Contributing to development and maintenance of tender tools, templates, guidance and training materials for the organization.
Cross-functional Leadership & Coaching
- Lead cross-functional tender projects and coordinate stakeholders across Sales, Finance, Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Customer Care, Logistics and other partners.
- Coach and mentor junior tender staff and stakeholders on end-to-end tender processes, tools and best practices.
- Represent the function in senior internal and external forums.
- Present complex tender positions and recommendations to executive stakeholders.
Qualifications
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, political science, legal, finance or related discipline.
- 8-12 years of work experience in tender and contract process management in a regulated environment, preferably in medical device or pharmaceuticals.
- Ability to define and develop processes and process improvements.
- Solid project management and cross-functional stakeholder management skills.
- Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills and experience maintaining tender databases and reporting.
- Demonstrated professional-level negotiation skills and experience structuring/commercializing transactions in tender contexts.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience presenting to senior internal and external stakeholders.
- Proven ability to analyze complex situations, make independent judgments, and provide clear recommendations.
- Experience working with IT business systems.
- Team player with a coaching mindset, able to train and influence others.
- Desire to work in a dynamic, fast-paced organization.
- Intellectual curiosity and problem-solving ability.
- Fluent in English and another Intuitive working/customer language.
Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:
- Experience in market intelligence, competitive tracking and tender simulation modeling.
- Experience in medical devices, healthcare technology or another regulated healthcare industry.
- Multilingual or demonstrated experience working across diverse international markets.
- Formal training or certifications in procurement, stakeholder engagement, or tender management.
Travel expectations:
- Up to 15% (may vary by market).
#LI-hybrid
Additional Information
Intuitive is an Equal Employment 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.
We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.
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.
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.
Intuitive is an Equal Employment 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.
We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.
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.
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.
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.
