Senior Safe Autonomy Scientist - Robotics Lab

Amazon; Pasadena (CA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 226,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Job summary

Amazon is seeking Applied and Research Scientists for the Safe Autonomy Frontiers Lab in Pasadena, CA. You will advance safe autonomy on dynamic robots, bridging theory to hardware deployment and collaborating with world‑class researchers.

The role focuses on CBF theory, safe reinforcement learning, and layered safety filters, with experimental validation on state‑of‑the‑art platforms and deployment at Amazon scale.

Qualifications

• PhD, or Master’s degree and 3+ years of industry or academic research experience
• Master’s degree and 3+ years of applied science, research, or robotics engineering experience — OR a PhD — in computer science, robotics, control, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field.
• Hands‑on experience developing and deploying control algorithms and/or learning policies on physical robotic hardware in a research or production setting (not simulation‑only).
• Working knowledge of safety‑critical control, including control barrier functions and safety filters.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python, with a track record of implementing control algorithms and/or learning policies in real systems.
• Experience with physics simulators for robotics (e.g., Isaac Gym/Sim, MuJoCo, PyBullet).
• Demonstrated technical impact through shipped systems, patents, or publications at top‑tier venues (e.g., CDC, ACC, L‑CSS, ICRA, IROS, RSS, RA‑L, Automatica, TAC, TRO).

Responsibilities

• Advance the science of safe autonomy from formal foundations to the integration with learning and perception to validation on hardware.
• Test and validate hardware, with a focus on next generation robotic systems.
• Leverage the deployments on hardware to validate the underlying science, identifying gaps between theory and practice that drive the next cycle of research.
• Publish research at top‑tier robotics, control, and ML venues, and contribute to Amazon’s scientific reputation in advanced robotics.
• Collaborate with SAF Lab and Amazon production teams to move research into robots deployed at Amazon scale.

Skills

C++

Python

Robotics

Reinforcement learning

Education

PhD or Master’s degree

Tools

Isaac Gym/Sim

MuJoCo

PyBullet

Job description

Amazon is seeking Applied and Research Scientists for the Safe Autonomy Frontiers Lab in Pasadena, CA. You will advance safe autonomy on dynamic robots, bridging theory to hardware deployment and collaborating with world‑class researchers.

The role focuses on CBF theory, safe reinforcement learning, and layered safety filters, with experimental validation on state‑of‑the‑art platforms and deployment at Amazon scale.