Senior Mechanical Engineer

Job Description

Primary Function of the Position

Intuitive Surgical designs and manufactures highly complex mechanical systems for use in surgery. These systems include both capital equipment and “consumables” in the form of surgical instruments and accessories. The Senior Mechanical Engineer for Instrument and Accessory Advanced Product Development will be a member of a small team responsible for exploring and developing early product concepts and technologies that will help feed the da Vinci product pipeline. The successful candidate will lead early assessment, design, development, and testing of novel concepts for instrument and accessory related products.

The candidate will help to identify and evaluate new technologies in light of customer and company needs, establish design requirements to meet customer needs, work with suppliers and other outside companies and consultants to realize viable technical solutions, and refine designs for transfer to the New Product Development organization for commercialization. He/she/they must excel in a high-energy team environment and be capable of creative problem solving when faced with the time pressures and incomplete information typical of early- stage product development. The successful candidate must have outstanding technical depth in relevant areas, and be as comfortable collaborating and leading across organizational boundaries as they are working independently.

Essential Job Duties

• Work within cross-functional project teams to create, evaluate, and prove out new product architectures and refine them for hand off to new Product Development
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to understand the clinical, usability, and other needs of users of da Vinci systems as they relate to surgical instruments and accessories.
• Hands on Design-Build/Proto-Test and iterate, cycle with either med device or similar precision parts/mechanisms
• Experience with small, tight tolerance parts and mechanisms require precise design and prototyping skills a must 
• Develop technical requirements for designs based on an understanding of customer needs, commercial objectives (e.g. cost of goods), regulatory requirements, and feasibility constraints.
• Perform conceptual design, detailed design, analytical modeling, prototyping, data analysis, and troubleshooting of novel instruments and accessories for the da Vinci robotic surgical system.
• Develop and perform early performance testing, with assistance from other functions as needed. Assist with evaluation of prototypes by supporting bench, ex-vivo, and in-vivo laboratory testing with clinical experts.
• Develop and manage relationships with key partners.
• Provide written protocols, reports, and presentations related to design activities on an ongoing basis.
• Review mechanical engineering designs of other Intuitive engineers in both a formal and informal capacity.
• Refine and document product designs as needed to support successful transfer into the new product development organization.

Other Functions

• Assess technologies from outside entities for potential licensing and adaptation to the da Vinci product line
• Identify, test, and report on new materials, manufacturing processes, and technologies that could benefit existing products or enable new product designs
• Document, prepare and review patent submissions

Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience

• Minimum five (5) years of experience taking products from concept to production (medical product experience preferred).
• At least eight (8) years of experience with precision mechanical design.
• Familiarity with all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, debug, verification, qualification, and transfer.
• Understanding of mechatronics, robotics, and servo-controlled systems strongly preferred. Experience developing software control algorithms a plus.
• Proven ability to apply the basic laws of physics to understand and achieve quick and reliable solutions to engineering problems.
• Exceptional mechanical aptitude and visual thinking skills.
• Strong analytical and problem- solving skills such as finite element analysis, statistics, and experimental designs.
• Strong understanding of design for reliability and manufacturability.
• Proven ability to work well in a team environment and drive individual projects. Experience managing partners and small projects.
• Proficiency using CAD to design and document mechanical designs. SolidWorks preferred.
• Excellent verbal communication and presentation skills. Ability to present the work completed on his or her projects effectively
• Ability to interface with customers and potential business partners in a highly professional manner
• Comfortable with hands-on development work:
  • Comfort operating standard machine shop equipment for prototyping (mill, lathe, etc.).
  • Proficient with techniques for rapidly fabricating proof-of-concept and functional prototypes.
  • Comfortable with standard mechanical and electrical measurement and test equipment.

Required Education and Training

• BS (Mechanical Engineering or related engineering field) required, MS or PhD preferred.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience and skills in design of high volume (e.g. injection molded, MIM) components, and design for manufacturability strongly preferred