Senior Applied Scientist- Robotics/AI Motor , Fauna

Amazon Science; New York (NY); On-site; USD 184,000 - 249,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Science seeks a Robotics/AI Motor Control Scientist to develop cutting-edge ML algorithms for motor control in robots. You will design intelligent control strategies enabling whole-body robot tasks with safe, reliable interactions in real environments.

Work with multidisciplinary teams to integrate control systems with hardware, simulate and validate approaches, and lead projects end-to-end. PhD or Master’s with research experience and a strong publication record are essential, along with

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s with 6+ years in applied robotics/AI research.
• 3+ years industry or academic research experience.
• Experience in Java, C++, Python, or related languages.
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and deliverables.
• Mentoring or managing junior engineers and researchers.
• Strong publication record at major robotics/ML/AI conferences.

Responsibilities

• Develop controllers using RL, imitation learning, or other AI methods.
• Collaborate with teams to integrate motor control with hardware.
• Use simulation and real-world tests to validate algorithms.
• Stay current with robotics, AI, and control-system advances.
• Lead projects from concept to production deployment.
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers; bridge research and implementation.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Imitation learning

Python

C++

Publications

Mentoring

Kinematics

Motion planning

Simulation

Education

PhD

Master's degree

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

Isaac Gym

MuJoCo

Job description

Description

We are seeking a Robotics/AI Motor Control Scientist to develop cutting-edge machine learning algorithms for motor control systems in robots. In this role, you will focus on creating and optimizing intelligent motor control strategies to enable robots to perform complex, whole-body tasks. Your contributions will be essential in advancing robotics by enabling fluid, reliable, and safe interactions between robots and their environments.

Description

We are seeking a Robotics/AI Motor Control Scientist to develop cutting-edge machine learning algorithms for motor control systems in robots. In this role, you will focus on creating and optimizing intelligent motor control strategies to enable robots to perform complex, whole-body tasks. Your contributions will be essential in advancing robotics by enabling fluid, reliable, and safe interactions between robots and their environments.

Key job responsibilities

• Develop controllers that leverage reinforcement learning, imitation learning, or other advanced AI techniques to achieve natural, robust, and adaptive motor behaviors
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams to integrate motor control systems with robotic hardware, ensuring alignment with real-world constraints such as actuator dynamics and energy efficiency
• Use simulation and real-world testing to refine and validate control algorithms
• Stay updated on advancements in robotics, AI, and control systems to apply advanced techniques to robotic motion challenges
• Lead technical projects from conception through production deployment
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers
• Bridge research initiatives with practical engineering implementation

About The Team

Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company, is building capable, safe, and genuinely delightful robots for everyday life. Our goal is simple: make robots people actually want to live and interact with in everyday human spaces.

We believe that future won’t arrive until building for robotics becomes far more accessible. Today, too much effort is spent reinventing the fundamentals. We’re changing that by developing tightly integrated hardware and software systems that make it faster, safer, and more intuitive to create real-world robotic products.

Our work spans the full stack: mechanical design, control systems, dynamic modeling, and intelligent software. The focus is not just functionality, but experience. We’re building robots that feel responsive, expressive, and genuinely useful.

At Fauna, you’ll work at the frontier of this space, helping define how robots move, manipulate, and interact with people in natural environments. It’s an opportunity to solve hard problems across hardware and software with a team focused on making robotics accessible and joyful to build.

If you care about making robotics real for everyone and building systems that are as delightful as they are capable, we’re interested in hearing from you.

an opportunity to solve hard problems across hardware and software with a team focused on making robotics accessible and joyful to build.

If you care about making robotics real for everyone and building systems that are as delightful as they are capable, we’re interested in hearing from you.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• 3+ years of industry or academic research experience
• Experience in Java, C++, Python, or a related language
• Experience leading technical initiatives and key deliverables
• Experience in mentoring, leading, or managing more junior engineers
• Strong publication record at major Robotics/ML/AI conferences (e.g., RSS, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR)
• Experience with simulation environments for robot learning (Isaac Gym/Lab, MuJoCo, or similar)
• Experience with sim-to-real transfer for robotic systems
• Strong understanding of kinematics and motion planning for robotic systems
• Experience with reinforcement learning, imitation learning, or other AI techniques applied to robotic motor control

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with PyTorch or JAX software, or experience programming with at least one software programming language
• History of impactful first-author publications at major conferences
• Experience with large-scale distributed training for RL
• History of technical leadership and cross-functional collaboration
• Experience bridging research with practical engineering implementation in robotics systems
• Experience bridging academic research and production robotics
• Experience integrating perception systems (e.g., vision and touch sensors) into motor control pipelines
• Familiarity with hardware constraints and actuator dynamics for robots

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, including support for the interview or onboarding 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 listed below. 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. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, NY, New York - 183,800.00 - 248,700.00 USD annually