Sr. Manager, Global Competitive Insights
Intuitive · Sunnyvale, California, United States
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.
Primary Function of Position
The Sr. Manager, Global Competitive Insights will report to the Sr. Group Manager, Global
Competitive Insights and serve as a strategic partner to da Vinci product teams, global
marketing teams, and regional and local commercial stakeholders. This role delivers actionable
competitive insights and deeper analysis of priority competitors to support product strategy,
competitive response, procedure growth, and business decision-making.
The successful candidate will combine technical, clinical, and business acumen to collect and
synthesize intelligence, identify emerging opportunities and risks, evaluate tradeoffs, and
communicate insights that inform leadership decisions. They will build strong cross-functional
relationships, integrate competitive insights into commercial support, strategic planning and
product development, and help the organization understand evolving market and industry
dynamics.
Essential Job Duties
Optimize collection and processing of competitive intelligence data
Mine publicly available information through existing tools and other sources.
o Build and manage external intelligence networks, including vendors and
consultants.
o Develop efficient collection of field intelligence through regional competitive
insights teams, SFDC, primary market research, industry events, and
professional society meetings.
o Maintain internal knowledge base of insights, analysis, and project outcomes,
including ownership of the Specs Finder tool.
Translate intelligence into actionable insights.
o Build deep-dive clinical, technical, and financial analyses of priority competitors,
including their offerings, watchouts, benefits, and limitations.
o Design in collaboration with stakeholders scope, methods, timelines,
stakeholder engagement, and tradeoff considerations for high-complexity
competitive intelligence projects.
o Synthesize competitive and industry trends into integrated insights and
analytical dashboards.
o Elevate Intuitive’s industry knowledge through standard communication forums,
including the weekly news digest and quarterly Competitive Insights Forum.
Deliver actionable competitive insights reports and executive leadership and strategy
updates for effective decision-making.
o Act as a trusted advisor: embed competitive intelligence into internal decision-
making processes.
o Lead and advise on key initiatives from Product Management, Strategy, New
Business Development, Global Marketing, Engineering, Financial Planning and
Analysis, and regional teams.
o Lead strategic analyses on competitive solution deep dives with cross-functional
core teams, so findings and recommendations are sharp, actionable, and jointly
owned.
o Advise senior leaders and cross-functional partners by translating complex
competitive dynamics into clear implications, strategic options, and
recommended actions.
o Partner with Global Marketing on competitive response materials and launch
plans and bring findings back to regional teams.
o Keep the organization’s vision and values at the forefront of decision making
and action.
o Ensure compliance with legal guidelines
Required Skills and Experience
Clinical and technical depth and demonstrated ability to assess competitor solutions
including advantages and limitations.
Excellent problem-solving, organizational, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
Outstanding written and oral communication skills (presentation, relationship-building,
negotiation).
Resourceful self-starter with the ability to work independently under pressure and
collaborate effectively across Product Management, Engineering, Financial Planning and
Analysis, Strategy, Marketing, and regional teams.
Demonstrated strategic thinking and ability to create and execute research plans and
translate findings into recommendations that drive action.
Demonstrated ability to independently frame ambiguous, high-complexity business
issues; design analytical approaches; and influence senior stakeholders through crisp
recommendations.
Fluency in reading and speaking Chinese.
Required Education and Training
Bachelor’s degree with minimum 12 years of related experience, OR
Advanced degree with minimum 8 years of related experience, OR PhD with minimum 5 years of related experience
Preferred Skills and Experience
Experience in one or more of the following: competitive intelligence, product management, clinical development engineering.
Experience in the medical device, surgical robotics, or broader healthcare industry, with clinical and technical knowledge of complex capital equipment and associated technologies.
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
U.S. Export Controls Disclaimer: In accordance with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR §743.13(b)), some roles at Intuitive Surgical may be subject to U.S. export controls for prospective employees who are nationals from countries currently on embargo or sanctions status.
Certain information you provide as part of the application will be used for purposes of determining whether Intuitive Surgical will need to (i) obtain an export license from the U.S. Government on your behalf (note: the government’s licensing process can take 3 to 6+ months) or (ii) implement a Technology Control Plan (“TCP”) (note: typically adds 2 weeks to the hiring process).
For any Intuitive role subject to export controls, final offers are contingent upon obtaining an approved export license and/or an executed TCP prior to the prospective employee’s start date, which may or may not be flexible, and within a timeframe that does not unreasonably impede the hiring need. If applicable, candidates will be notified and instructed on any requirements for these purposes.
We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.
This position may be filled at a different job level than listed here depending on
business need and/or on the selected candidate’s experience, knowledge and skills.
Compensation will be based primarily on the job level at which the role is filled and the
candidate’s qualifications, consistent with applicable law.
Accommodation & Accessibility Notice:
Intuitive is committed to providing reasonable accommodations t