Staff Software Engineer

Primary Function of Position

As a Staff Software Engineer reporting to the Managing Staff Software Engineer in the MP Platform Engineering group you will be the technical leader responsible for the architecture and implementation of mixed-criticality embedded virtualization. Youll define how a next-generation surgical robotic system safely consolidates critical/real-time and non-critical software onto shared hardware. You will own the key elements of the virtualization safety strategy: partitioning architecture hypervisor configuration silicon and platform software tuning for freedom from interference.

Beyond virtualization you will leverage your broad expertise and unique technical knowledge to contribute to company objectives lead cross-functional projects from concept through completion and coach colleagues in advancing their technical expertise. You will take ownership of multiple aspects of the embedded platform exercising independent judgment on ambiguous high-impact problems and influencing senior stakeholders on technical direction and associated risk.

In your first year you will

• Ramp on the platforms hardware/software stack safety requirements and existing hypervisor deployments.

• Deliver an architecture recommendation for the hypervisor strategy accounting for partitioning determinism and the safety implications of each hypervisors certification posture.

• Characterize behavior on target hardware and produce the initial analysis artifacts demonstrating freedom from interference.

• Stand up the instrumentation needed to give the team visibility into timing utilization and VM/platform health.

Essential Job Duties

• Define the virtualization safety architecture for a mixed-criticality system ensuring spatial and temporal isolation between safety-critical and non-safety-critical applications.

• Prototype and evaluate Xen and QNX hypervisors defining an architecture based on safety determinism certifiability and platform fit.

• Own hypervisor system configuration and integration implementing creative solutions to overcome platform limitations and gaps in vendor support.

• Architect and implement deterministic inter-VM communication and device virtualization using virtio shared memory and PCIe/other device passthrough.

• Plan and execute the analysis and verification needed to demonstrate freedom from interference deterministic timing and safe failure behavior in a regulated environment.

• Lead failure modes and effects analysis for the virtualized platform translating identified failures and technology limitations into design mitigations fault containment and defined recovery or degraded behaviors.

• Build platform observability that exposes guest and hypervisor health resource utilization latency jitter and other relevant system health signals on target hardware

Qualifications :

Required Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated expertise in designing scalable high-performance embedded software architectures; advanced proficiency in modern C and Python for real-time systems.

• Experience building from 0 to 1: define build and evaluate technical prototypes that de-risk platform decisions early translating open architectural questions into measurable experiments on target hardware.

• Extensive experience in Linux/QNX environments including kernel modules resource managers POSIX applications and distributed inter-processor communication frameworks.

• Proven expertise with FPGAs hardware accelerators PCIe transport/configuration/enumeration concepts and network stacks; strong ability to root-cause interdependent hardware/software problems.

• Proven track record of leading strategic technical initiatives from concept through completion; ability to work independently and drive results with limited supervision.

• Exceptional communication skills with demonstrated ability to articulate complex technical concepts and influence senior leadership across organizational levels.

• Strong leadership capabilities including mentoring engineers at all levels providing technical direction and potentially supervising activities of others.

Required Education and Training

• Bachelors Masters or PhD in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science or a related engineering discipline.

• Minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelors degree; or 8 years with a Masters degree; or a PhD with 5 years of experience.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience with Xen internals (dom0/domU PV/HVM/PVH xl configuration Xen on ARM or x86) or with hypervisor contributions upstream.

• Experience with functional safety and regulatory standards such as ISO 26262 IEC 61508 DO-178C/DO-297 IEC 62304 ISO 14971 or IEC 60601 including partitioning and interference requirements.

• Familiarity with Ethernet fundamentals & OSI layers clear understanding of Time Sensitive Networking standards and features (802.1AS Qbv etc.).

• Familiarity with modern build and CI systems (Bazel Nix Jenkins) and with Python for automation analysis and test.

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.

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 employeeswho 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 governments 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 employeesstart 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 candidates experience knowledge and skills.
Compensation will be based primarily on the job level at which the role is filled and the
candidates 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.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time