Machine Learning Engineer

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.

Were 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.

The Future Forward organization is Intuitive’s advanced concepts group. We explore emerging technologies, prototype next-generation solutions, and build software experiences that shape the future of robotic-assisted surgery.

If you're ready to contribute to something bigger than yourself and help transform the future of healthcare, you'll find your purpose here.

The Future Forward AI Research group within Intuitive Surgical has an immediate opening in Sunnyvale, CA for a Machine Learning Engineer with focus on Computer Vision, Deep Learning, Generative AI and Robotics, contributing to new technology development for next-generation robot-assisted surgery platforms. This role is an exciting opportunity to join a newly formed team and contribute to its growth and it will give you an opportunity to test your knowledge in a challenging problem-solving environment.

The successful candidate must excel in a high-energy, focused, small-team environment, be able to initiate and drive new research directions, and have a commitment to high research quality. A strong sense of shared responsibility and shared reward is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead research, design, and implementation of AI algorithms for computer vision (image and video analysis), multi-modal data and generative systems.
• Contribute to surgical AI using methods in synthetic data generation, generative modelling, world/diffusion models, etc.
• Lead development of effective techniques and infrastructure, from the initial idea to the running prototype and product.
• Contribute to research projects that develop a variety of algorithms and systems in computer vision, robotics, and multi-modal data fusion.
• Advance the state-of-the-art in the field, including generating patents and publications.
• Develop validation methods and evaluation metrics to show scalability to large clinical datasets.
• Contribute to building new clinical datasets and data pipelines.
• Participate in integration of new ML/CV algorithms into existing and future robotic platforms.
• Collaborate with users and clinical advisors to iterate prototype designs based on feedback and performance.
• Develop new technologies and digital products to improve surgeon and team performance on robotic surgery platforms.
• Support academic collaborations in related fields.

Experience and Abilities

• Doctoral degree in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, or Master's degree with minimum (5) years industry experience developing computer vision and machine learning applications.
• Strong understanding and experience in building effective learning systems (data collection, training, evaluation, and making iterative improvements).
• Strong publication track record in conferences like CVPR, ICCV, MICCAI, etc.
• Strong hands-on experience with at least one of the mainstream deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Strong hands-on experience with Python (proficiency), C/C++ (proficiency), shell scripting
• Strong engineering practices, debugging/profiling skills, familiarity with multi-threaded programming.
• Strong hands-on experience with GPU accelerated algorithms and implementations.
• Strong hands-on experience with state-of-the-art AI models, and generative vision models.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Interested in early phases of product exploration and iteration based on incomplete requirements.
• Solid understanding of computer vision, machine learning, diffusion, and deep learning.
• Experience with visualization tools is a plus.
• Self-starter and able to work in a collaborative and results-oriented environment.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally (5-15%)
• Able to view live and recorded surgical procedures.

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.