Senior Machine Learning Engineer

About the role

T he AI Engineering group within Intuitive Surgical has an immediate opening in Sunnyvale, CA for a Senior 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.

Primary Function of Position

• Lead the research, design, and implementation of AI algorithms for computer vision (image and video analysis), multimodal data, and action models
• Contribute to surgical AI and robotics pipelines; integrate, test, and evaluate accuracy bottlenecks of vision action (VA), and vision language action (VLA) models
• 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, datasets, pipelines, and evaluation metrics to show scalability to large clinical datasets.
• 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.

Required Education, Skills & Experience

• Master's degree with minimum of 6 years industry experience developing computer vision and machine learning applications; or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering or related field and minimum of 3 years of experience
• 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
• Familiarity with control systems, robotics, kinematics, and dynamics.
• 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, VFMs, or vision action 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, generative models, 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.

Additional Information

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.

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.

• 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.

Pay and benefits

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.