Applied Scientist On-Robot Learning, Amazon Robotics Vulcan Stow

Our organization in Amazon Robotics builds robots that perform contact-rich manipulation safely and reliably in complex unstructured environments at Amazon scale. Our scientists and engineers push the boundaries of robotic manipulation to handle enormous object diversity bringing deep expertise across planning control perception and machine learning. We learn from real-world data at a scale that few teams in robotics can access.

We are seeking an Applied Scientist to bring learned manipulation policies to life on real robots. We are creating robots that learn how to push flip rearrange and dexterously insert items with unparalleled robustness speed and reliability. Our goal is to deploy robots that will work across Amazons global network and can handle the full diversity of items that Amazon sells. You will focus on making learned contact-rich non-prehensile behaviors work reliably on physical hardware closing the loop between what a policy does in simulation and how it behaves against real contact sensing and dynamics. You will join a small team whose mission reaches beyond any single product: to invent and apply manipulation capabilities that generalize to many future robotics applications. The robots our organization already deploys at scale give you a rare proving ground to test new policies and behaviors on real hardware faster than almost anywhere in the field.

Key job responsibilities
- Deploy and evaluate learned manipulation policies on physical robots focused on the long tail of diverse complex conditions.
- Diagnose the gap between simulated and real behavior and drive the changes in policies rewards sensing or control that close it.
- Develop tactile force and contact-aware methods that make non-prehensile manipulation fast assured and robust.
- Write production-quality code and own scalable real-time implementations that run on robots.
- Build the data collection logging and evaluation loops that turn real-world experience into policy improvements.
- Partner with scientists and engineers across control perception and hardware to move ideas from prototype to demonstrated capability on hardware.
- Represent Amazon Robotics in academia through publications and scientific presentations.

A day in the life
Amazon offers a full range of benefits for you and eligible family members including domestic partners. Benefits can vary by location the number of regularly scheduled hours you work length of employment and job status such as seasonal or temporary employment.

The benefits that generally apply to regular full-time employees include:
1. Medical Dental and Vision Coverage
2. Maternity and Parental Leave Options
3. Paid Time Off (PTO)
4. 401(k) Plan

If you are not sure that every qualification on the list above describes you exactly wed still love to hear from you! At Amazon we value people with unique backgrounds experiences and skillsets. If youre passionate about this role and want to make an impact on a global scale please apply!

- 3 years of building models for business application experience
- PhD or Masters degree and 4 years of science technology engineering or related field experience
- Experience in patents or publications at top-tier peer-reviewed conferences or journals
- Experience programming in Java C Python or related language
- Hands-on experience deploying and evaluating learning-based control or manipulation on physical robots
- Strong background in one or more of: reinforcement learning learning-based manipulation contact-rich control or force/torque control

- Experience in professional software development
- Experience with contact-rich control or manipulation policies tactile sensing or compliant control on physical systems
- Experience deploying and supporting complex robotic systems at scale
- Publications in top robotics or machine learning venues (RSS CoRL ICRA IROS NeurIPS ICML 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 for more information. If the country/region youre applying in isnt 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 WA Seattle - 142800.00 - 193200.00 USD annually