Intuitive Surgical, Inc

Clinical Development Engineering, Operations Lead

Intuitive Surgical, Inc$120K — $150K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Ability to understand complex products
  • Experience with pre-clinical models
  • Project coordination experience managing multiple high-priority projects
  • Proven ability to cultivate collaboration across cross-functional teams
  • Strong interpersonal skills for maintaining effective working relationships
  • Creative problem-solving under pressure with simple solutions
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including technical presentations
  • Minimum B.S. in technical or medical fields, with project management experience as a plus

Responsibilities

  • Own integrated planning for staffing, lab capacity, specimen demand, and program forecasting
  • Define, track, and drive lab utilization metrics and dashboards
  • Develop lab forecasts for program budgeting and operational constraints
  • Build training and onboarding programs for lab technicians and CDE team members
  • Manage capital equipment, lab inventory, and third-party vendors for operational readiness
  • Ensure compliance with IACUC and regulatory lab standards
  • Implement SOPs to enhance efficiency and quality in lab operations
  • Lead cross-functional planning and execution across Comparative Medicine, CDE, and Test Engineering
  • Oversee logistics for pre-clinical studies and CDE events
  • Develop metrics to assess program performance and drive improvement
  • Identify operational risks and implement mitigation strategies

Benefits

  • Market-competitive compensation packages
  • Incentives and equity options
Full Job Description
Job Description

Primary Function of Position
CDE Operations (CDE Ops) Lead position reports to the Sr. Manager/Director of Clinical Development Engineering on the Ion Endoluminal platform. In this position, CDE Ops collaborates with Engineering, Comparative Medicine, clinical technicians and external suppliers to support the CDE team from ideation through delivery of new product solutions. Their primary focus is to deliver business results through effective management of pre-clinical lab operations, driving efficiency through program planning, inventory management, communications and team training. CDE Ops is expected to contribute across the full range of the CDE program, including daily operations and long-range planning, educational offerings and recruiting/training of staff.

Essential Job Duties
  • Own integrated planning across staffing, lab capacity, specimen demand and forecasting for the CDE program
  • Leverage expertise to define, track, and drive key lab utilization metrics and dashboards
  • Develop and monitor lab forecasts to inform program budgeting and identify potential operational constraints
  • Build and scale training and onboarding programs for lab technicians and CDE team members, including tools and competency tracking
  • Manage capital equipment, lab inventory, service contracts, and third-party vendors to ensure operational readiness and cost efficiency
  • Ensure compliance with IACUC and all applicable regulatory and institutional lab standards
  • Develop and implement SOPs and workflows to improve efficiency, quality, and scalability of lab operations
  • Lead cross-functional planning and execution across Comparative Medicine, CDE, and Test Engineering teams
  • Oversee end-to-end logistics for pre-clinical studies, physician engagements, and CDE events
  • Develop evaluation frameworks and metrics to assess program performance and drive continuous improvement
  • Identify operational risks and implement mitigation and contingency strategies
  • Support and operationalize pre-clinical model development activities (adjust based on intent)
  • Keep the organization's vision and values at the forefront of decision making and action and consistently demonstrate those values internally and externally


Qualifications

Required Skills and Experience
  • Ability to understand complex products
  • Ability to work on pre-clinical models
  • Experience in project coordination and managing multiple high priority projects
  • Experience working in cross-functional teams and proven ability to cultivate collaboration across multiple disciplines to ensure project success
  • Strong interpersonal skills: able to use tact and diplomacy to maintain effective working relationships, able to raise problems or challenges in a productive manner
  • Proven success recognizing critical issues with the ability to react quickly under pressure, and drive issues to closure by providing coordinated direction. Creative in succeeding and applying simple solutions.
  • Strong project management, planning, decision making, negotiating and change management skills
  • Self-starter needing minimal supervision
  • Self-assured and able to react quickly under pressure
  • Excellent verbal and written communications skills required including presentation of technical content

Required Education and Training
  • Minimum B.S. in technical or medical fields with project management as a bonus
  • Minimum of 6 years of industry experience with 2 years of relevant experience in people or program management


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.

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.

About Intuitive Surgical, Inc

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. is an American corporation that develops, manufactures, and markets robotic products designed to improve clinical outcomes of patients through minimally invasive surgery, most notably with the da Vinci Surgical System. The company is part of the NASDAQ-100 and S&P 500. Intuitive Surgical has installed more than 5,000 surgical systems worldwide, and has more than 4,000 employees.
Learn more about Intuitive Surgical, Inc
Size
9,793 employees
Market Cap
$93.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
$1 billion
Founded
1999
5 Year Trend
+16.1%
Revenue
$4.3 billion
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Intuitive Surgical, Inc

More Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Jobs

Find similar Clinical Development Engineering, Operations Lead jobs: