Sr. Applied Scientist - Perception (SLAM/VIO), Fauna

Amazon; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 183,800 - 248,700; Full time

Job summary

Amazon is seeking a Sr. Applied Scientist to develop and optimize Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) and sensor fusion for intelligent robots.

You will design, implement, and deploy state estimation and tracking algorithms that enable robots to understand their position and motion in real time, even in challenging environments. This is a hands-on role spanning algorithm development to embedded deployment on resource-constrained hardware, with prototyping, testing, and iteration in real-world data.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS with 6+ years of applied research in ML or robotics.
• Experience building ML models for perception on embedded hardware.
• Strong programming in C++, Python, and Java.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement VIO algorithms for real-time state estimation on robotic platforms.
• Develop multi-sensor fusion pipelines integrating cameras and IMUs.
• Optimize perception and tracking for ARM and GPU-accelerated edge devices.
• Apply ML techniques to complement geometric approaches for robustness.
• Build calibration, evaluation, and benchmarking infrastructure.
• Collaborate with hardware, controls, and navigation teams to integrate outputs.

Skills

VIO

Sensor fusion

Embedded systems

Machine learning

State estimation

Education

PhD in a relevant field

MS with 6+ years applied research

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

C++

Java

Python

Job description

Job ID: 10481505 | Amazon.com Services LLC

We are seeking a Sr. Applied Scientist to develop and optimize Visual Inertial Odometry (VIO) and sensor fusion systems for our intelligent robots. In this role, you will design, implement, and deploy state estimation and tracking algorithms that enable robots to understand their position and motion in real time, even in challenging and dynamic environments.

You will own the full pipeline from algorithm development through embedded deployment, ensuring that perception systems run efficiently on resource-constrained robotic hardware. You will also leverage modern machine learning approaches to push the boundaries of classical perception methods, combining learned representations with geometric techniques to achieve robust, real-time performance.

This is a deeply hands-on role. You will work directly with sensors, hardware, and real-world data, while prototyping, testing, and iterating in physical environments. The ideal candidate has strong foundations in VIO and sensor fusion, practical experience optimizing algorithms for embedded platforms, and familiarity with how modern deep learning is transforming perception.

Key job responsibilities

• Design and implement Visual Inertial Odometry algorithms for robust real-time state estimation on robotic platforms like Sprout
• Develop multi-sensor fusion pipelines integrating cameras, IMUs, and other sensing modalities for accurate pose tracking
• Optimize perception and tracking algorithms for deployment on embedded hardware (e.g., ARM, GPU-accelerated edge devices) under strict latency and power constraints
• Apply modern ML-based perception techniques (learned features, depth estimation, neural odometry) to complement and improve classical geometric approaches
• Build and maintain calibration, evaluation, and benchmarking infrastructure for perception systems
• Collaborate with hardware, controls, and navigation teams to integrate perception outputs into the robot’s autonomy stack
• Lead technical projects from research prototyping through production deployment

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
• PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
• Experience with neural deep learning methods and machine learning

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with modeling tools such as R, scikit-learn, Spark MLLib, MxNet, Tensorflow, numpy, scipy etc.
• Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark 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, 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.

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

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.