Senior Project Manager, PMO (New Product Development)

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 

The Senior Project Manager, PMO organizes a diverse set of activities of the Program Management Office (PMO) group within the New Product Development organization. The PMO group is responsible for leading cross functional teams in new product development and continuation engineering initiatives, and consists of project managers, program managers and project coordinators.

The Senior Project Manager, PMO orchestrates the activities of their project teams to deliver compelling final product designs within demanding product release schedules. This role will also have a focus on vision and imaging products including endoscopes, light sources, and hardware and software enabled imaging modalities. The Senior Project Manager, PMO must be highly organized and detail-oriented, and interact fluidly and effectively with numerous individuals and departments. The Senior Project Manager, PMO will have a close working relationship with the Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, Regulatory, Clinical, Human Factors, Technical Publications, Training, Service, Finance, and Marketing departments, as well as other program and project managers.

Essential Job Duties 

• Lead cross-functional project teams for product development and product improvements
• Ensure Design Control processes are followed per relevant procedures
• Facilitate and ensure that complex, high-value Business Unit projects are properly scoped, resourced, and communicated to minimize risk, deliver on-time and on-budget
• Organize and manage team meetings, design review meetings, phase gate review meetings
• Create and maintain project schedules
• Develop and monitor project budgets
• Provide clear communication to the organization on project status, critical path, as well as potential areas of risk
• Plan and track the creation of the design history documents for projects by the project teams.
• Work with Operations and Manufacturing management to determine strategies for product cut-ins and roll-ins
• Support in defining and aligning project goals with business unit and corporate objectives.  Organize and prioritize the work of the teams to accomplish the objectives.
• Support team members including functional managers across the business to plan and execute the activities required to achieve project goals.
• Support resource demand planning for project teams including estimating project work efforts, needs, roles and responsibilities.  
• Communicate project priorities and key project deliverables and milestones broadly including within the PMO team, to all cross-functional team members, to business unit management, and to shared services management. 
• Coordinate effectively with other project managers who are driving overall product development programs, to understand project goals, scope, and timelines, and help functional managers negotiate resources and schedules.
• Facilitate best practices sharing and feedback to PMO organization and seek areas of process improvements

Required Skills and Experience

• BS degree (or equivalent experience) in a scientific / engineering field
• 8 years experience leading teams in the development and commercialization of medical device products. Or similarly, MS degree plus 6 years experience. Advanced degree is a plus.
• Strong project/program management, planning, decision making, negotiating, communication, and change management skills
• Experience and skills developing medical device products through Design Controls with a very high level of complexity including capital equipment and consumables with demonstrated success at product launches as a result of completing product development cycles
• Experience with leading people within a project team that includes many engineering disciplines, including clinical, mechanical, electrical, and software

Preferred Skills and Experience 

• Exceptional aptitude for cultivating collaboration across department boundaries and influence cross-functional teams without formal authority to ensure project success
• Proven success recognizing critical issues with the ability to react quickly under pressure, and drive issues to closure by providing coordinated direction
• High attention to detail and proven ability to manage multiple, competing priorities simultaneously; must work well under pressure, be flexible, and meet deadlines
• Excellent communication (written, verbal), presentation and documentation skills and high emotional intelligence
• Energetic and balanced person with a drive for results, who feels accountable, has a great attitude, and is a team-player; self-starter with high degree of initiative, urgency, and follow through 
• Willing to go the extra mile with a strong work ethic; self-directed and resourceful with the ability to deal with conflict and drive to solution 
• Ability to handle ambiguity effectively and oversee multiple projects at once 
• Ability to lead a large number of people on a variety of programs 
• Ability and commitment to constantly develop new and better processes for product development including program management
• A highly passionate individual who cares deeply about delivering improved surgical solutions to patients and has a proven ability to coordinate the efforts of talented people
• Proven ability to lead, influence and work well at all levels of an organization and in a cross functional team environment
• Work with all phases of the product development lifecycle including idea generation, concept development and testing, design, implementation, validation, and transfer
• Experience with high-volume manufacturing is highly desired, as well as knowledge of automated production lines, injection molding
• Working knowledge of manufacturing, engineering, product strategy and business management
• Experience in studying tradeoffs between product desirability, feasibility, and viability
• Demonstrates ability to synthesize data, set actionable goals and drive metrics and execution
• Certification in project management (PMP)

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 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.

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.

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.