Senior Applied Scientist, Amazon Robotics - Vulcan

Amazon; Reading (MA); On-site; USD 167,100 - 226,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage

Maternity and Parental Leave Options

Paid Time Off (PTO)

401(k) Plan

Job summary

Amazon is seeking a Senior Applied Scientist for its Robotics team in Reading, Massachusetts. This role involves driving the development of learned controllers and manipulation behaviors while applying advanced techniques such as reinforcement learning in our fulfillment centers.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD or Master’s with extensive research experience and knowledge in robotics, programming, and machine learning.

Amazon offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits including medical coverage and 401(k).

Qualifications

• PhD, or Master’s degree and 6+ years of applied research experience.
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language.
• 4+ years of robotics work cells and control systems experience.
• 3+ years of building and deploying machine learning models for robotics applications.

Responsibilities

• Drive the development of learned controllers and manipulation behaviors.
• Research, design, and implement motion planning, control, and decision‑making algorithms.
• Design and deploy learning pipelines from simulation training to execution.
• Develop models that predict manipulation outcomes.
• Own the development of scalable, real‑time implementations.

Skills

Programming in Java, C++, Python

Applied research experience

Robotics work cells experience

Machine learning models for robotics

Reinforcement learning policies

Education

PhD, or Master’s degree

Job description

Senior Applied Scientist, Amazon Robotics – Vulcan

Job ID: 10436914 | Amazon.com Services LLC

Our team in Amazon Robotics builds robotic systems that perform contact‑rich manipulation tasks safely and reliably in complex, unstructured environments—at Amazon scale. Our scientists and engineers push the boundaries of robotic manipulation to handle enormous object diversity, bringing deep expertise across planning, control, perception, and machine learning. We learn from real‑world data at a scale that few teams in robotics can access.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Applied Scientist to join our Motion Behaviors team. You will drive the development of learned controllers and manipulation behaviors, applying techniques like reinforcement learning and behavior cloning to robots operating in Amazon fulfillment centers. These problems remain unsolved at scale: our robots must improve continuously in environments where simulation alone is insufficient. You will make principled decisions about when learned approaches should replace engineered solutions, and how to select behaviors based on estimated risk. You will collaborate across disciplines and leverage rich operational data to continuously improve system performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive the development of learned controllers and manipulation behaviors, from research prototyping through deployment on production robots.
• Research, design, and implement motion planning, control, and decision‑making algorithms that improve the performance of deployed systems.
• Design and deploy learning pipelines that take policies from simulation training to reliable, real‑time execution on physical robots.
• Develop models that predict manipulation outcomes and inform behavior selection under uncertainty.
• Own the development of scalable, real‑time implementations—writing production‑quality code and setting engineering standards for the team.
• Leverage operational data from deployed systems to systematically identify failure modes and drive policy improvements.
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers, raising the bar for applied science rigor and engineering quality.
• Represent Amazon in academia through publications and scientific presentations.

Benefits

Amazon offers a full range of benefits for you and eligible family members, including domestic partners. Benefits can vary by location, the number of regularly scheduled hours you work, length of employment, and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment. The benefits that generally apply to regular, full‑time employees include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Maternity and Parental Leave Options
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 401(k) Plan

Basic Qualifications

• PhD, or Master’s degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
• 4+ years of robotics work cells and control systems experience
• 3+ years of building and deploying machine learning models for robotics applications
• Track record of training reinforcement learning or imitation learning policies in simulation and successfully transferring them to physical robotic systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with sim‑to‑real transfer at scale (domain randomization, system identification, etc.)
• Experience deploying learned policies in production environments with uptime and reliability requirements
• Experience designing reward functions and training curricula for reinforcement learning on robotic systems
• Publications in top robotics or machine learning venues (RSS, CoRL, ICRA, NeurIPS, ICML, etc.)

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is $167,100.00–$226,100.00 USD annually. Your Amazon package will include sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave.