Senior Software Development Engineer, Robotics

Amazon Inc.; North Reading (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon seeks an experienced Senior Software Development Engineer to design and build on-robot software for next‑generation robots. You will lead perception, planning and control subsystems, collaborating with applied scientists and hardware engineers to deploy real-time software on embedded GPUs.

You will mentor engineers, drive architectural decisions, and ensure safety, performance, and reliability of robot software in dynamic Amazon-scale environments.

Qualifications

• Background in perception, SLAM and navigation, controls, autonomy and task execution, and real-time robotics software.
• Experience deploying learned behavior models such as vision-language-action (VLA) models or VLM/LLM-based planners on robots.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of on-robot subsystems from architecture through deployment on robots.
• Prototype with applied scientists and translate algorithms into production components that meet real-time, compute, and safety constraints on embedded GPUs.
• Define interfaces and data contracts between perception, planning, control, and learned policies.
• Make components observable with metrics and telemetry and drive system-level debugging on real robots.
• Lead design reviews and write technical documents for diverse audiences.
• Mentor engineers in robotics and software engineering to raise the bar in how we build and operate robot software.

Skills

Robotics software

C++

Python

SLAM

Tools

ROS

Job description

Amazon is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building robotic systems that combine cutting-edge AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at an unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic dexterous manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction. This role presents an opportunity to shape the future of robotics through innovative applications of the latest software and AI tools for robots.

At Amazon we leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at an unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence.

We are building the brains of our next-generation robots - a stack that:

• Enables deployment of robots at Amazon scale
• Enables unprecedented generalization across diverse tasks
• Seamlessly integrates with large models and optimal control techniques
• Integrates with human-safe safety solutions

As a Senior Software Development Engineer on our on-robot software team, you will design and build the software that runs on our robots and turns perception, planning, control, and machine learning models into reliable behavior on real hardware. You will partner with applied scientists and hardware engineers, lead designs across teams, and help set the technical direction for your area. Relevant backgrounds include perception, SLAM and navigation, controls, autonomy and task execution, and real-time robotics software, as well as experience deploying learned behavior models such as vision-language-action (VLA) models or VLM- and LLM-based planners on robots.

Join us in building the next generation of intelligent robotics systems that will transform the future of automation and human-robot collaboration.

Key job responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of on-robot subsystems, such as perception, SLAM and navigation, dexterous manipulation, low level controls, or task execution, from architecture through deployment on robots, and guide the engineers building it with you
• Prototype quickly with applied scientists, then take the algorithms and learned models that work to production components that meet the robot's real-time, compute, and safety constraints on embedded GPU platforms
• Define the interfaces, timing, and data contracts between perception, planning, control, and the learned policies that run alongside them
• Make your components observable with metrics and telemetry, and lead system-level debugging of failures seen on real robots
• Lead design reviews for the team and partner teams, and write documents for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Mentor engineers on the team in robotics and software engineering, and raise the bar for how we build, test, and operate robot software