Manager Value Engineering - Instruments

Intuitive•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

Primary Function of Position: Intuitive Surgical designs and manufactures highly complex mechanical systems for use in surgery. These systems include both capital equipment and “consumables” in the form of surgical instruments and accessories. The Value Engineering Manager – Instruments Product Engineering is responsible for leading projects and/or teams of engineers that support instruments in the field. The successful candidate will be a “working manager” who leads projects and a small team while also contributing his or her own development work. The candidate will lead a team to identify and evaluate new product value engineering opportunities as well as improvement opportunities that address field concerns and work with the team on product volume scaling and cost reduction projects. He or she must excel in a high-energy team environment and be capable of creative problem solving when faced with the time pressures and design constraints typical of sustaining product development. The successful candidate must have a wide breadth of knowelege and be able to drive multiple projects in parallel as well as be comfortable collaborating and leading across organizational boundaries as they are working independently.

Requirements

Must be a selfless leader who inspires trust and commitment within their team and in the broader organization through integrity, passion, and professional excellence
Ability to effectively direct the activities of an engineering team supporting multiple simultaneous development projects
Excellent verbal communication and presentation skills. Ability to present the work of his or her team to executive management.
Ability to interface with customers and potential business partners in a highly professional manner
BS (Mechanical Engineering or related engineering field) required, MS or PhD preferred.
Minimum five (5) years of experience taking products from concept to production (medical product experience preferred)
At least eight (8) years of experience with mechanical design
Experience leading engineering teams
Familiarity with all phases of the product development lifecycle including design, implementation, debug, verification, qualification, and transfer
Familiarity with the design control process
Proven ability to apply the basic laws of physics to understand and achieve quick and reliable solutions to engineering problems
Exceptional mechanical aptitude and visual thinking skills
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills such as finite element analysis, statistics, and experimental designs
Breadth of knowledge in various manufacturing techniques
Strong understanding of design for reliability and manufacturability
Proven ability to work well in a team environment and drive individual projects.
Experience managing suppliers and small projects
Proficiency using CAD to design and document mechanical designs. SolidWorks preferred
Comfortable with hands-on development work.
Comfortable operating standard machine shop equipment for prototyping (mill, lathe, etc.).
Proficient with techniques for rapidly fabricating proof-of-concept and functional prototypes.
Comfortable with standard mechanical and electrical measurement and test equipment.

Responsibilities

Lead and/or be part of a team working on a cross-functional design program. These projects may include new product development, CAPAs, minor-, moderate-, to major-design changes, or supplier change requests.
Maintain visibility of field RMAs and determine design projects that could address field reliability concerns.
Establish group objectives and individual work goals consistent with continuous improvement and overall product enhancement activities.
Assign tasks, set priorities, establish metrics, and track progress.
Schedule, organize, and direct the work of engineering staff to support design improvement projects effectively and efficiently
Support mechanical engineers in the review, assessment, and maintenance of design requirements, functional specifications and related risk documents.
Review mechanical engineering designs in both a formal and informal capacity.
Coordinate activities of his or her team with those of other groups in the organization.
Maintain cross-functional relationship with manufacturing, supplier engineering, product quality, regulatory, etc. to ensure and sustain product viability in the market.
Manage, coach, and mentor engineers.
Assess employee performance and provide coaching to improve performance.
Grow and maintain a team of mechanical engineers by recruiting and retaining highly talented and motivated individuals.
Develop working knowledge of external customer needs/requirements to ensure product designs provide value to patients, surgeons, and hospitals.
Interface with functions such as product marketing, clinical engineering, customer service, etc. to ensure product performance needs are met.
Communicate effectively with surgeons and customers about the technical design details of the product.
Support updates to technical requirements for designs based on an understanding of user needs.
Develop and manage relationships with key suppliers.
Support scaling product quantities in the field with DFM, DFA, and or cost reduction projects.
Create high-level technical presentations to communicate effectively with leadership on project goals, status, and risks.
Provide administrative leadership / control for planning, staffing, budgeting, and project/program cost tracking.