Physician – Corporate Strategy

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Primary Function of the Position 

The Physician – Corporate Strategy is a physician innovator embedded within Intuitive’s early-stage incubator. In this role, you will identify high-impact clinical needs, shape new technology opportunities, and translate clinical insight into actionable development pathways. Working closely with engineers and clinical partners, you will help define how new platforms are applied in real-world care and guide early-stage de-risking efforts that determine which ideas advance.

Essential Job Duties

• Identify and validate unmet clinical needs through clinical immersion, research, and voice-of-customer engagement

• Translate clinical insights into structured hypotheses, development plans, and experimental pathways

• Partner with engineers to define clinical requirements, workflows, and performance goals for new technologies

• Lead early-stage clinical de-risking efforts, including preclinical and early feasibility work

• Design and evaluate novel procedures and workflows enabled by new platforms

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (regulatory, reimbursement, product, and strategy) to shape clinical indications and commercialization pathways

• Engage with key opinion leaders and external partners to inform development and validate concepts

Qualifications

Experience and Qualifications 

• Demonstrated ability to identify and validate unmet clinical needs through observation, research, and clinical immersion

• Ability to translate clinical insights into structured hypotheses, development plans, or experimental approaches

• Takes ownership of problems and operates independently in ambiguous environments

• Skilled in leading voice-of-customer interviews to inform and guide early-stage product development

• Proven ability to foster cross-functional collaboration across engineering, clinical, regulatory, and business teams to drive project milestones

• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, early-stage environments with limited structure and evolving information

• Strong communication skills, including verbal, written, and presentation abilities, with the ability to convey complex clinical concepts to diverse audiences

• Familiarity with early-stage development processes, including clinical de-risking and feasibility studies preferred

• Curiosity and interest in building new technologies or transforming clinical care delivery

Education and Training 

• MD or DO with training in a surgical or interventional specialty

• 6+ years of clinical experience post-medical school  

• Candidates with fewer years of clinical training may be considered if they demonstrate additional experience in innovation, clinical research, or product development

• Biodesign or equivalent needs-based innovation training preferred

Additional Information

Working Conditions: 

• Must be available to work full-time onsite in Sunnyvale, CA

• Will require travel to clinical sites, customer locations, or conferences (up to 25%)

• May involve standing or walking for extended periods during clinical observations or procedures

• Must be able to lift up to 20 lbs occasionally (e.g., for transporting prototypes or equip