Sunnyvale, CA, United States
Not Remote
Manufacturing & Operations
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.
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.
rimary Function of Position
Responsible for supply chain readiness, launch, and scale of new robotic systems platforms.
Manages supply chain deliverables for new product introductions (NPI) of the highest value with the most complex direct materials, including supplier selection & sourcing, leading creation & adoption of category launch roadmaps, leading cross functional projects to launch & scale new products, developing & negotiating contracts, analyzing spend, creating inventory management strategies, and managing supplier performance.
Thought leader within Global Supply Chain: develops and refines key business processes; champions and mentors team members in use of Sourcing processes; monitors industry and professional best practices
Essential Job Duties
New Product Program Leadership & Category Management
Provides cross-functional team leadership within assigned new product program(s) of highest complexity; leads cross functional program updates, executive reviews, and alignment forums.
Leads creation, management, and execution of program roadmaps to achieve cost, capacity, speed to market, and risk contract goals.
Provides cross-functional team leadership within assigned category(ies) of highest complexity; leads cross-functional category team meetings
Leads creation of long-term supplier strategies and roadmaps; able to navigate complex trade-offs in supplier strategies. Effectively influences broader organization through expert requirements gathering and leading adoption of developed strategies.
Co-leads direct procurement supplier selection process with collaboration from Supplier Engineering. Expertly and independently deploys strategic sourcing practices to identify a core supply base able to offer lowest total cost of ownership and high-quality product while identifying value improvement opportunities.
Supplier Performance Management
Proactively collaborates with supply base and procurement team to understand and communicate demand changes and minimize excess inventory or material shortages during program development. Able to expertly translate business shifts and design changes to suppliers and effectively understand root cause of demand changes internally.
Collaborate with strategic sourcing teams on shared supplier performance escalations, lead supplier escalations for new suppliers to support NPI program deliverables.
Effectively escalates for issue resolution with supplier executive leadership. Possesses executive presence and awareness and able to drive problem resolution onsite at suppliers.
Risk and Capacity Management
Develops high complexity mitigation plans and programs for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; implements plans when applicable
Leads capacity assessments for assigned suppliers and critical sub-tier suppliers; operating on three-to-five-year horizon for capacity strategies for global category and able to marshal support for proactive mitigations
May serve as project manager for key supplier capacity or risk mitigation initiatives
Leverages problem solving skills and develops counter-measures to implement long-term solutions to identified problems
Contract and Cost Management
Expert contract and cost negotiator; independently establishes contractual agreements with suppliers and amendments to existing agreements. Develops new contract language and templates as required.
Negotiates long-term commercial agreements with executive leadership of suppliers. Installs development, cost, scale, risk mitigation and capacity agreements with key suppliers to support Intuitive’s new product introductions & volume growth.
Leads identification and implementation of cost reduction ideas to achieve program contract cost goals.
Acts as key thought leader within the Global Supply Chain organization through monitoring of industry and profession trends, determining, influencing, and implementing needed process improvements, and mentoring colleagues throughout the supply chain organization.
Significant experience with new product introduction (NPI) in a regulated manufacturing environment
Exceptional negotiation skills, proven track record of savings, and history of successful contract negotiations
Significant computer experience including MS Office products and ERP systems. Strong Excel & PowerPoint skills.
Proven track record of effective project management in a fast-paced manufacturing company. Ability to handle multiple tasks and projects successfully and adapt to changing priorities.
Strong financial acumen; excellent working knowledge of corporate/production finance; experience building financial models and using financial knowledge to understand supplier operations
Working knowledge of buying, material planning, master scheduling, and forecasting
Presentation skills and the ability to make complex topics simple to drive decision making
Demonstrates concern for precision and thoroughness
Proven ability to consistently achieve stretch goals and objectives
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; experience presenting to senior leadership
Required Education and Training
BS degree or equivalent and 15+ years of combined design engineering, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing operations, and/or supply chain experience, including at least 8 years of supply chain experience and 3 years of engineering experience, in a regulated industry manufacturing environment. Master’s degree preferred.
Working Conditions
~25% travel to both domestic and international suppliers
Experience in the medical device industry or regulated manufacturing preferred.
SAP and Agile experience preferred.
Experience managing spend/suppliers and/or technical expertise in the following categories preferred, metals (CNC machining, aluminum castings), rapid prototyping technologies, or motion control (motors, brakes, sensors).
Experience utilizing strategic sourcing principles, including six step sourcing process, category strategy development and adoption, and collaborative supplier management
Certifications: CPSM, CPIM, and/or PMP preferred.
Ability to read and have a basic understanding of engineering drawings preferred
Basic understanding of data visualization tools (similar to Tableau, Power BI etc.) preferred
Experience with make vs. buy decisions & ROI analysis preferred
Knowledge of Cost of Goods Sold (COGs) and cost levers preferred
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.
Apply on Intuitive Surgical (Canada)’s careers page