Lead Applied Scientist, Robotics: Dexterous Manipulation

Amazon; Reading (MA); On-site; USD 199,000 - 269,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RSUs

Sign-on payments

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Amazon seeks a Principal Applied Scientist in Reading, MA to shape the next generation of dexterous robots and adaptive automation at scale. You will lead whole body control research, integrate learning methods with real-time deployment, and collaborate with hardware teams to ensure feasible implementations.

The role emphasizes translating theory to practical systems, mentoring scientists, and advancing state-of-the-art robotics within a world-class org.

Qualifications

• PhD with 7+ years of relevant research after degree or Master’s with 12+ years equivalent experience.
• Deep expertise in whole body control methods, HQP and MPC.
• Proven experience with imitation and reinforcement learning for control and manipulation.
• Experience deploying real-time controllers on robotic hardware.
• Experience with simulation environments such as MuJoCo, IsaacLab, or Drake.
• Experience in state estimation from multiple sensor modalities.
• Ability to influence technical strategy across teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive long-term scientific roadmap for whole body control and dexterous manipulation.
• Serve as technical authority on HQP and MPC across the organization.
• Tackle hard research problems in loco-manipulation across teams.
• Co-design systems with hardware and robotics leads for deployment constraints.
• Represent scientific capabilities to senior leadership and partners.
• Mentor and develop a community of Applied Scientists and engineers.

Skills

Whole body control

HQP

MPC

Imitation learning

Reinforcement learning

Real-time control

Leadership

Education

PhD in Robotics or related field

Master's degree in Robotics or related field

Tools

MuJoCo

IsaacLab

Drake

Job description

Amazon seeks a Principal Applied Scientist in Reading, MA to shape the next generation of dexterous robots and adaptive automation at scale. You will lead whole body control research, integrate learning methods with real-time deployment, and collaborate with hardware teams to ensure feasible implementations.

The role emphasizes translating theory to practical systems, mentoring scientists, and advancing state-of-the-art robotics within a world-class org.