Senior Software Engineer - UI Software Architecture & Display Systems
Intuitive Surgical· Medical Devices· Sep 17, 2026 · 1mo ago
Sunnyvale, CA, United States
In office
Full-time
Senior
$137K–$195K est.
8+ years exp
Job description
At Intuitive Surgical, we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. By combining ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints. As the company’s flagship product, the da Vinci Surgical System advances the frontier of human-machine interaction by fusing computers, robotics and imaging technologies into an immersive teleoperation platform for minimally invasive surgery.
The Interaction Software Engineering team is responsible for implementing the 2D/3D user interfaces and supporting infrastructure for various displays across the da Vinci Surgical System, including an immersive stereoscopic viewer, 2D/3D flat panel displays, and touch panels. The team prides itself in creating quality products that make the customers’ experience of using technically complex surgical devices safe, easy to learn, and confidence inspiring.
The Sr. Software Engineer within this organization works collaboratively across both software and hardware teams to design and develop infrastructure and user-facing features. The successful candidate must excel in a focused, high-energy, small team environment, be able to drive to solutions from high-level requirements, and have a commitment to high product quality. An ideal candidate is an independent and fast-paced developer with excellent hands-on problem-solving skills, and open to incorporating new learnings & ideas in an iterative and collaborative design process.
Roles and Responsibilities:
• Work with a cross-functional team in a user-centered design process to arrive at a balanced understanding of unmet user needs and feasibility of technical solutions.
• Translate high-level requirements into software architecture and algorithm designs.
• Produce and maintain robust, high-quality software implementations: Design and develop UI software architecture with an emphasis on modularity, reusability, and scalability across multiple products in the da Vinci product line.
• Lead efforts to refactor existing codebases to improve code reuse, reduce duplication, and enable shared components across product variants: Partition and structure code to support targeted unit test development and automated verification testing, in alignment with product quality and regulatory requirements.
• Support performance profiling and optimization of the interactive video/display subsystem, spanning rendering, compositing, and video streaming pipelines. Contribute to 2D/3D UI rendering, including display pipeline development for compositing and overlay rendering.
• Participate in software/hardware failure mode analysis. Identify and implement robust hazard mitigation strategies.
Required Education, Skills & Experience
• Minimum of 8 years relevant industry experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years of experience and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience
• Experience developing and supporting products with interactive UI software, display pipelines, or video/image processing systems
• Mastery of C/C++ programming
• Demonstrated experience in all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, stabilization, verification, and maintenance
• Experience designing, developing, and maintaining core software infrastructure with a focus on modularity and reusability
• Proven ability to write well-structured, testable code, including partitioning software for unit testing and automated verification
• Experience working in large software codebases
• Experience with Linux software development
• Comfortable working at multiple levels of an integrated hardware/software stack (e.g., device drivers, register-level interfaces)
• Excellent communication and documentation skills
• Passionate about delivering a quality product for the best possible user experience
Preferred Skills & Experience
• Experience with GUI programming in Qt
• Experience with performance profiling tools and optimization techniques for display/video subsystems
• Experience with the Nvidia Jetson platform and Jetpack SDK
• Experience with real-time 3D graphics rendering in OpenGL using GLSL shaders
• Experience with GStreamer plugins and pipelines for real-time video streaming
• Experience with CUDA and GPGPU techniques
• Experience with natural user interface technologies such as 3D input devices, haptic devices, eye-tracking, or speech recognition
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.
Accommodation & Accessibility Notice:
Intuitive is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance or an accommodation during any part of the application or interview process, please contact People Services at HRHelpNow@intusurg.com.
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