Senior Embedded Software Engineer - Future Forward
Intuitive · Sunnyvale, CA
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Jul 21, 2026
Sunnyvale, CA
Jul 23, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior-level embedded software engineering role focused on building and integrating software for a robotic surgical platform, spanning OS drivers, hardware interfaces, real-time data pipelines, inter-processor communication, and fault diagnostics. The work covers the full development cycle from early prototyping through to validated product release. It suits experienced embedded engineers with strong C/C++ skills on Linux or QNX who have worked on safety-critical or regulated systems.
Senior level · 8+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 70 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 20–110
Applicant volume Light — Few people clear these requirements, so an application that does clear them gets looked at. Worth applying to even if you miss a nice-to-have.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
What the occupation pays Median $217,796 (middle half $177,469–$231,052).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The JD states a minimum of 8 years of experience for the base case, but allows 6 years with a Master's or 3 years with a PhD — the overall years minimum is set to 8 (the base-case minimum).
No degree is hard-required; equivalent experience is explicitly accepted in lieu of a degree, so the degree requirement is set to None.
Location is not explicitly stated in the posting, but Intuitive Surgical is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA; the role is mapped to the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CBSA accordingly.
The posting notes a preference against candidates residing in certain states (AL, AR, DE, FL, IN, IA, LA, MD, MS, MO, OK, PA, SC, TN), but does not restrict the role to a specific city or indicate full remote eligibility — remote is set to false.
Compensation ranges are referenced but no specific figures are provided in the text supplied.
Cybersecurity concepts (secure boot, authentication, encryption) appear under Preferred Skills but name no specific tool or platform, so they were omitted per the no-generic-concepts rule.
C and C++ are listed together as a combined requirement; they are emitted as separate skills per the distinct-technologies rule, each with the other as an alternative since the JD treats them as a paired proficiency.
Embedded Linux and QNX are listed as a paired requirement ('especially on embedded Linux and QNX'); each is emitted separately with the other as an alternative to reflect that either platform satisfies the requirement.
Python and MATLAB appear under Preferred Skills as interchangeable options ('Python or Matlab') — emitted as separate preferred skills each listing the other as an alternative.
Read the full posting
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