Applied Scientist II, Foundation Model, Industrial Robotics Group

Description

Alexa Robotics Solutions at Amazon is seeking talented individuals to contribute to the development of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We are creating revolutionary robotic systems that integrate cutting-edge AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to enable adaptable automation solutions that can work safely alongside humans in dynamic environments.

About the Role

The role involves shaping the future of robotics through innovative applications of deep learning and large language models. We leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence.

Responsibilities

• Leverage state-of-the-art models for targeted tasks, environments, and robot embodiments through fine-tuning and optimization.
• Execute rapid, rigorous experimentation with reproducible results and solid engineering practices, closing the gap between sim and real environments.
• Build and run capability evaluations/benchmarks to clearly profile performance, generalization, and failure modes.
• Contribute to the data and training workflow: collection/curation, dataset quality/provenance, and repeatable training recipes.
• Write clean, maintainable, well-commented and documented code, contribute to training infrastructure, create tools for model evaluation and testing, and implement necessary APIs.
• Stay current with latest developments in foundation models and robotics, assist in literature reviews and research documentation, prepare technical reports and presentations, and contribute to research discussions and brainstorming sessions.
• Work closely with senior scientists, engineers, and leaders across multiple teams, participate in knowledge sharing, support integration efforts with robotics hardware teams, and help document best practices and methodologies.

Requirements

• Experience writing and publishing technical documents or equivalent PhD, or Master’s + 4+ years building ML models/algorithms in applied settings.
• 2+ years hands-on experience in deep learning with strength in at least one: computer vision, multimodal models, imitation learning / RL for robotics, or human-robot interaction.
• Strong programming skills in Python plus one of C++/Java; ability to write production-quality research code.
• Demonstrated ability to design rigorous experiments, analyze results, and iterate quickly with reproducible baselines.

Qualifications

• PhD, or Master’s + 4+ years building ML models/algorithms in applied settings.
• 2+ years hands-on experience in deep learning with strength in at least one: computer vision, multimodal models, imitation learning / RL for robotics, or human-robot interaction.
• Strong programming skills in Python plus one of C++/Java; ability to write production-quality research code.
• Demonstrated ability to design rigorous experiments, analyze results, and iterate quickly with reproducible baselines.

Skills

• Leverage state-of-the-art models for targeted tasks, environments, and robot embodiments through fine-tuning and optimization.
• Execute rapid, rigorous experimentation with reproducible results and solid engineering practices, closing the gap between sim and real environments.
• Build and run capability evaluations/benchmarks to clearly profile performance, generalization, and failure modes.
• Contribute to the data and training workflow: collection/curation, dataset quality/provenance, and repeatable training recipes.
• Write clean, maintainable, well-commented and documented code, contribute to training infrastructure, create tools for model evaluation and testing, and implement necessary APIs.
• Stay current with latest developments in foundation models and robotics, assist in literature reviews and research documentation, prepare technical reports and presentations, and contribute to research discussions and brainstorming sessions.
• Work closely with senior scientists, engineers, and leaders across multiple teams, participate in knowledge sharing, support integration efforts with robotics hardware teams, and help document best practices and methodologies.

Benefits

Amazon offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and parental leave. For more information, visit https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

Pay

$171,600.00 - $222,200.00 USD annually

Schedule

Full-time