Senior Robot Navigation Scientist — AI, Perception & MPC

Amazon; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 222,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Amazon is seeking a Sr. Scientist in Robot Navigation to architect and deliver intelligent, safe, and scalable navigation systems for autonomous robots.

You will blend data-driven learning with principled control approaches, advancing research toward production-grade deployment. You will lead perception algorithms, collaborate with robotics and software teams, and mentor engineers while contributing to high-impact publications and patents.

Qualifications

• PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Controls, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience in robot navigation, motion planning, or autonomous systems.
• Deep expertise in learning-based approaches to navigation (e.g., imitation learning, reinforcement learning, neural motion planning).
• Strong experience with Model Predictive Control (MPC) and optimization-based planning (PyTorch, JAX, or equivalent).
• Proven track record of translating research into deployed systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy perception algorithms for robotics systems, including object detection, segmentation, tracking, depth estimation, and scene understanding.
• Lead research initiatives in computer vision, sensor fusion and 3D perception.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and deliver perception capabilities.
• Drive end-to-end ownership of ML models — from data collection and labeling strategy to training, evaluation, and deployment.
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers; contribute to a culture of technical excellence.
• Define and track key metrics to measure perception system performance in real-world environments.
• Publish research findings in top-tier venues and contribute to patents.

Skills

Java/C++/Python

Robot navigation

Learning-based navigation

Perception algorithms

Education

PhD in Robotics/CS/EE/Controls

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

ROS/ROS2

Gazebo/Isaac Sim

Job description

Amazon is seeking a Sr. Scientist in Robot Navigation to architect and deliver intelligent, safe, and scalable navigation systems for autonomous robots.

You will blend data-driven learning with principled control approaches, advancing research toward production-grade deployment. You will lead perception algorithms, collaborate with robotics and software teams, and mentor engineers while contributing to high-impact publications and patents.