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.
We’re 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.
If you’re ready to contribute to something bigger than yourself and help transform the future of healthcare, you’ll find your purpose here.
Primary Function of Position
Industrial Designers at Intuitive help design next-generation products and solutions for robotic surgery systems and refine and evolve existing product lines. We are user-centered and hands-on, helping to translate insights into actionable design opportunities and successful user experiences.
As a natural collaborator, the Industrial design intern will work with our process partners (engineering, clinical development, human factors, user research, and marketing) on the framing and definition of future product opportunities. Focusing on the user experience aspects of the product, you will employ a growing understanding of user needs, ergonomics, form, proportion, color, materials, and manufacturing processes to resolve complex technical challenges into elegant solutions. With an ability to explore, prototype and test a wide range of new ideas, the industrial designer visualizes opportunities to help build consensus on the right path forward. The industrial designer design is a skilled storyteller and crafts compelling presentations illustrating new user benefits and opportunities for Intuitive.
Essential Job Duties
The industrial designer intern contributes to the definition and design of new products at Intuitive. Working with senior designers and partners, the industrial designer creates innovative human-centered design solutions that will improve user experience.
Learns and employs a user-centered design process to help frame problems and define opportunities.
Collaborates with other Product Design team members to contribute to the design of compelling, integrated user experiences.
Utilizes a range of creative 2D and 3D tools and techniques to develop design proposals.
With support from senior team members, distills strategic, technical and ergonomic requirements while developing a range of solutions that synthesize usability, utility, manufacturability, and desirability.
Works with product development and engineering partners and fellow designers early in the product development lifecycle to generate conceptual product designs and opportunities
Combines industrial design objectives with the objectives of our process partners.
Translates and captures brand attributes in compelling physical forms.
Generates functional and/or appearance prototypes to explore and validate design choices conceptually.
Participates in user research, usability testing, and clinical research labs
Delivers design proposals to engineering for production and executes with support from senior ID team members.
Required Skills and Experience
University Hiring Program Eligibility Requirements:
University Enrollment: Must be currently enrolled in and returning to an accredited degree-seeking academic program after the internship.
Internship Work Period: Must be available to work full-time (approximately 40 hours per week) during a 10-12 week period starting May or June. Specific start dates are shared during the recruiting process.
Required Education and Training
Current enrollment in a industrial design/product design related degree-seeking program at the Bachelor’s or Master’s level.
Has a passion for designing meaningful, revolutionary products that make a positive impact on people’s lives
Is curious about user behaviors and has an eagerness to learn in a lab environment
Is excited to work on difficult problems with a dedicated team of high-energy, high-caliber people
Has a natural aptitude for teamwork, thriving on brainstorming and presenting
Has experience supporting or driving projects from concept to production
Is a highly creative problem solver
Is eager to learn from other designers and contribute to the culture of the team
Seeks guidance and information but can also work and solve problems independently
Takes a bias toward action and an eagerness to support the team and the project
Employs healthy organization and communication habits, making you a responsive team player
Has solid aesthetic sensibility and artistic skill
Has an incurable curiosity relating to all things design
Has experience collaborating with engineering or business counterparts through educational or internship experiences
Preferred Skills and Experience
Strong storytelling and presentation skills and an ability to effectively communicate a user-centered point of view
An exceptional portfolio that demonstrates human-centered design process and core industrial design skills
Effective rapid prototyping skills, including quick low-fi foam models to fabricating more complex functional prototypes and 3D prints
Solid and growing 2D visualization skills, including sketching, storyboarding, and digital rendering
Solid 3D CAD and visualization skills to develop detailed and compelling design solutions
Experience with SolidWorks is preferred
A basic understanding of materials, manufacturing processes
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.
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.
We provide market-competitive compensation packages, inclusive of base pay (paid at an hourly rate), benefits, and a housing allowance. 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 relevant skills and experience for this internship, degree-seeking academic program (PhD, Master’s, Bachelor’s, etc), year in school, and location. The hourly rate is prorated against the intern program salaries listed and total program compensation will be based on internship duration.
