Director Supplier Engineering

At Intuitive, we are united behind our mission: we believe that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, we expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.

As a pioneer and market leader in robotic-assisted surgery, we strive to foster an inclusive and diverse team, committed to making a difference. For more than 25 years, we have worked with hospitals and care teams around the world to help solve some of healthcare's hardest challenges and advance what is possible.

Intuitive has been built by the efforts of great people from diverse backgrounds. We believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We strive to foster an inclusive culture built around diversity of thought and mutual respect. We lead with inclusion and empower our team members to do their best work as their most authentic selves.

Passionate people who want to make a difference drive our culture. Our team members are grounded in integrity, have a strong capacity to learn, the energy to get things done, and bring diverse, real world experiences to help us think in new ways. We actively invest in our team members to support their long-term growth so they can continue to advance our mission and achieve their highest potential.

Join a team committed to taking big leaps forward for a global community of healthcare professionals and their patients. Together, let's advance the world of minimally invasive care.

Primary Function of the Position:  

• Build trust with production teams and operations leadership at the sustaining plant level – “act as their voice with GSC & SE”
• Drive component quality, capacity, root cause and corrective action for sustaining parts
• Interface daily with Operations for escalations to the other SE functions and Manufacturing.
• Receive new product transfers from NPI

The value to the business is smooth scale-up, yield improvement and lower cost of quality minimizing plant interruption and ensuring product availability at all times.

Essential Job Duties:

Lead a team of supplier engineers who deliver value to the business through the following activities.

• Supply-chain Strategy: Collaborate with Global Supply Chain team to develop and execute category strategies and supplier roadmaps to enable scalable, sustainable and resilient supply-chain to support Intuitive’s Product strategy and roadmap.
• Supplier Selection: Conduct market research to identify trends in the field of plastics manufacturing and determine where new supplier additions are required. Evaluate and select suppliers that enable agility and innovation during new product introduction as well as commercial scalability. Establish a strong partnership with the Strategic Sourcing team to incorporate commercial viability in supplier selection process.
• Supplier Development and Collaboration: Drive adoption of new technologies and automation in the supply-base to achieve high efficiency and production scale. Champion best practices, such as DFx, Lean, SPC, six-sigma, project management, with Intuitive’s suppliers. Establish clear communication channels with suppliers and lead both technical and business relationships
• Supplier Performance and Monitoring: Work closely with suppliers to select optimal manufacturing process and process controls to achieve high quality and cost performance. Develop effective KPIs to monitor supplier performance (delivery, capacity, cost, quality). Execute projects towards continuous improvements of KPIs.
• Supplier Compliance: Partner with the Supplier Quality organization to drive audit finding resolution with suppliers through processes like CAPA and SCARs to maintain compliance with QMS requirements
• Supplier Risk Management: Partner with Global supply-chain organization to identify various risks within the supply-chain and implement mitigation measures.
• Supplier Change Management: For commercially launched products, execute Intuitive’s change management processes like major/moderate change (MCF), Supplier Change Request (SCR) and Change Order (CO) to support projects enabling capacity scaling, cost reduction, product quality improvement and supply-chain risk mitigation.
• Stakeholder Influence: Align/Negotiate project ownership and hand-off points with various peer Supplier Engineering groups (New Product Introduction, Mfg Plant support, Tooling development). Influencing decisions with key partners in Global Operations (Planning, Sourcing, Procurement), Engineering (Design, Process, Quality) and Project Management organizations.

Partner with the tactical purchasing group within GSC, Supply Chain Engineering & NPI

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proven ability to lead teams to solve complex technical and process problems.
• Proven ability to hire highly capable staff and grow and mentor staff.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentations to executives.
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders.
• Domain knowledge expertise in the plastic category. Demonstrable knowledge of a wide range of manufacturing processes and measurement techniques. Deep understanding of key input variables for quality, cost, schedule and capacity.
• Outstanding analytical skills along with good judgment.
• Proficiency in Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing techniques; certification preferred.
• Knowledge of document management systems and ERP Systems, preferably Agile and SAP.
• Knowledge of 21 CFR part 820 and ISO 13485 preferred.
• Experience in a high-volume medical device company is a plus.
• Ability to travel to suppliers on an as-needed basis – domestic and international (25%).

Required Education and Training:

• BS degree in engineering, advanced degree preferred
• 15+ years related experience in Manufacturing, Operations, Supplier Quality, Supplier Development, or related field with significant medical or medical device experience preferred
• 8+ years of experience leading supplier engineering, supplier quality or supplier development teams, or leadership of equivalent areas.

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

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 salary ranges are listed.