Senior Embedded Software 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. 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. Primary Function of Position The Ion™ endoluminal system is Intuitive's new robotic platform designed for minimally invasive biopsy in the peripheral lung, with the goal of improving early lung cancer diagnosis. This position is integral to the development of a novel surgical robot system as part of the New Product Development Platform Software team. The engineer will collaborate with a skilled team to design and build the embedded software platform. The successful candidate should thrive in a collaborative team environment, be adept at developing solutions from initial requirements, and be committed to delivering high-quality products. A strong sense of shared responsibility and teamwork is essential. Essential Job Duties Platform Software Development Collaborate with cross-functional teams (EE, FPGA, manufacturing, service and clinical) to define technical requirements, evaluate design trade-offs, and deliver robust platform and infrastructure software. Design, implement, and maintain embedded Linux software across the full lifecycle, including: System initialization, configuration, and diagnostics Communication middleware and system services for embedded platforms Multi-threaded, distributed C/C++ applications Third-party networked device integration and API design Extend and evolve existing software frameworks to support new processors, operating systems, and hardware platforms. Hardware Integration & Debugging Collaborate closely with electrical engineers during early hardware bring-up, including bootloader, kernel, device tree, and driver-level integration. Debug complex system issues spanning hardware, OS, middleware, and application layers using tools such as gdb, JTAG, logic analyzers, and oscilloscopes. Interpret schematics, datasheets, and hardware specifications to inform software design and debugging. Reliability & Performance Design software with robustness, fault detection, graceful degradation, and serviceability in mind. Analyze and resolve performance, latency, and resource-usage issues (CPU, memory, I/O, networking). Investigate and perform root-cause analysis for system-level failures encountered during development, manufacturing, clinical use, or field deployment. Participate in design verification and validation activities and support transfer to manufacturing. Collaboration & Technical Leadership Participate in architectural discussions and design reviews, bringing a system-level perspective. Mentor junior engineers and lead by example in code quality, debugging discipline, and design practices. Support cross-functional reviews, product demonstrations, and clinical/field activities as needed. Required Education, Skills & Experience Bachelor’s degree with 6+ years of industry experience, or Master’s degree with 4+ years of industry experience, in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline. 4+ years of hands-on experience developing and supporting embedded systems in a production environment. Strong proficiency in modern C/C++ (C++11 and newer) for embedded and cross-platform development. Experience developing and debugging embedded Linux systems, including multi-threaded applications. Hands-on experience with Linux kernel driver development, board-support packages, device tree, bootloader integration, and low-level hardware interfaces. Experience integrating embedded Linux systems with FPGA, PCIe, DMA, custom ASICs, or other high-throughput hardware data paths. Proficiency with Python 3 and Bash for tooling, automation, and diagnostics. Familiarity with communication protocols such as TCP/IP, CAN, I2C, SPI, and serialization protocols (e.g., protobuf). Understanding of embedded software architecture, modular design, inter-process communication, and system-level interfaces. Strong system-level debugging skills spanning hardware, OS, and distributed software. Experience working collaboratively on complex, product-focused designs. Familiarity with CI/CD, build automation, and unit/integration testing. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Preferred Skills & Experience Experience with embedded communication interfaces, networked device integration, protocol debugging, and performance analysis. Experience designing systems with real-time or near–real-time constraints. Knowledge of cybersecurity concepts such as secure boot, authentication, encryption, and key management. Experience across the full product development lifecycle, including design, implementation, debugging, verification, validation, and manufacturing transfer. Experience developing software for FDA-regulated, safety-critical, or mission-critical systems, including design controls, traceability, risk analysis, and mitigation. Hands-on experience with networking and streaming technologies such as UDP, RTP, SRTP, SSL/TLS, and GStreamer. Experience with Yocto/OpenEmbedded, PetaLinux, cross-compilation, or reproducible build systems. Due to the nature o