Physician - Corporate Strategy at Intuitive — Sunnyvale, CA

Primary Function of the Position

The Physician, Corporate Strategy is an MD physician innovator embedded within Intuitive’s Future Forward Incubator. This role translates clinical insight and early-market understanding into new growth opportunities, helping identify unmet clinical needs, evaluate strategic fit, and shape technology concepts from initial hypothesis through early de-risking. We are open to candidates who bring one of two complementary profiles: (1) strong clinical practice experience with exposure to innovation, venture, startups, business development, Biodesign, or product development; or (2) deep venture, startup, business development, Biodesign, or corporate strategy experience with an MD background and enough medical/clinical fluency to credibly assess patient care, procedure workflows, and clinician needs. The successful candidate will work closely with engineering, clinical, product, regulatory, reimbursement, and strategy partners to determine which opportunities should advance and how they should be clinically and commercially framed.

Essential Job Duties

• Identify, frame, and prioritize unmet clinical needs using clinical immersion, literature review, market sensing, and voice-of-customer input.
• Translate physician and patient insights into concise need statements, opportunity hypotheses, clinical workflows, requirements, and early de-risking plans.
• Evaluate early-stage opportunities for clinical importance, feasibility, strategic fit, adoption barriers, competitive landscape, and potential business impact.
• Partner with engineering and design teams to define clinical use cases, procedural workflows, performance goals, and prototype feedback loops for new platforms.
• Lead or support early clinical de-risking activities, including preclinical studies, simulated use, workflow validation, and early feasibility planning where appropriate.
• Develop point-of-view assessments on emerging technologies, startups, venture-backed innovation, adjacent markets, and external partnership opportunities.
• Collaborate with regulatory, reimbursement, health economics, product, and commercial strategy partners to shape indication strategy and development pathways.
• Engage KOLs, clinicians, entrepreneurs, academic innovators, and external partners to validate concepts and inform investment decisions.
• Communicate findings to senior stakeholders through clear written recommendations, executive presentations, and data-driven opportunity narratives.

Experience and Qualifications

• MD or DO required; active clinical practice is valued but not required for candidates with substantial innovation, venture, startup, business development, Biodesign, or corporate strategy experience.
• Must demonstrate at least one of the following experience profiles: (1) meaningful hands-on clinical practice or procedural care experience plus exposure to innovation, venture, startups, business development, Biodesign, or product development; or (2) strong venture, startup, business development, Biodesign, corporate strategy, or product strategy experience plus sufficient clinical fluency to evaluate medical needs and care pathways.
• Ability to identify unmet clinical needs and convert observations into structured hypotheses, need statements, development plans, or investment theses.
• Experience conducting clinician, patient, or stakeholder interviews and synthesizing voice-of-customer input into actionable product or strategy recommendations.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, early-stage environments where the path forward is uncertain and evidence must be built iteratively.
• Strong cross-functional influence skills and ability to collaborate with engineering, clinical, regulatory, reimbursement, product, and business stakeholders.
• Ability to evaluate clinical workflows, procedure economics, adoption barriers, competitive dynamics, and strategic implications for new technology platforms.
• Clear executive communication skills, including crisp written synthesis, structured presentations, and the ability to explain complex clinical concepts to non-clinical audiences.
• Curiosity, ownership mindset, and enthusiasm for building new technologies that can transform care delivery and improve patient outcomes.
• Biodesign or equivalent needs-based innovation training preferred; experience in venture, startups, business development, product strategy, or corporate strategy strongly preferred.

Education and Training

• MD or DO required.
• Surgical, interventional, or other clinically relevant specialty training preferred, but not required if the candidate demonstrates strong innovation, venture, startup, business development, Biodesign, or corporate strategy experience.
• Clinical practice experience, residency/fellowship training, or comparable patient-care exposure preferred for candidates coming from a primarily clinical background.
• Candidates with fewer years of clinical training or limited active practice experience may be considered if they bring substantial experience in early-stage innovation, venture-backed companies, medical technology strategy, product development, business development, or Biodesign.
• Biodesign, MBA, MPH, MS, fellowship, or other formal training in innovation, product development, health economics, or business strategy is a plus.

Working Conditions:

• Must be available to work full-time onsite in Sunnyvale, CA
• Ability to travel to clinical sites, customer locations, or conferences (up to 25%)
• May involve standing or walking for extended periods during clinical observations or procedures
• Must be able to lift up to 20 lbs occasionally (e.g., for transporting prototypes or equipment)
• Ability to meet hospital credentialing and compliance requirements for clinical site access (e.g., vaccination)
• We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer.

Mandatory Notices