Applied Scientist II, Perception

Description

Amazon is on a mission to redefine the future of automation — and we're looking for exceptional talent to help lead the way. We are building the next generation of advanced robotic systems that seamlessly blend cutting-edge AI, sophisticated control systems, and novel mechanical design to create adaptable, intelligent automation solutions capable of operating safely alongside humans in dynamic, real-world environments.

At Amazon, we leverage the power of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and advanced robotics to solve some of the most complex operational challenges at a scale unlike anywhere else in the world. Our fleet of robots spans hundreds of facilities globally, working in sophisticated coordination to deliver on our promise of customer excellence — and we're just getting started.

Key job responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy perception algorithms for robotics systems, including object detection, segmentation, tracking, depth estimation, and scene understanding
• Lead research initiatives in computer vision, sensor fusion and 3D perception
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including robotics engineers, software engineers, and product managers to define and deliver perception capabilities
• Drive end-to-end ownership of ML models — from data collection and labeling strategy to training, evaluation, and deployment
• Mentor junior scientists and engineers; contribute to a culture of technical excellence
• Define and track key metrics to measure perception system performance in real-world environments
• Publish research findings in top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, ICRA, NeurIPS, etc.) and contribute to patents

A day in the life

• Train ML models for deployment in simulation and real-world robots, identify and document their limitations post-deployment
• Drive technical discussions within your team and with key stakeholders to develop innovative solutions to address identified limitations
• Actively contribute to brainstorming sessions on adjacent topics, bringing fresh perspectives that help peers grow and succeed — and in doing so, build lasting trust across the team
• Mentor team members while maintaining significant hands-on contribution to technical solutions

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in engineering, technology, computer science, machine learning, robotics, operations research, statistics, mathematics or equivalent quantitative field
• 2+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
• Experience with Java, C++, or pother programming languages
• Experience with neural deep learning methods and machine learning
• Have publications at top-tier peer-reviewed conferences or journals

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark etc.
• PhD in Robotics, with a focus on Robot Perception
• Experience leading research initiatives in full-stack robotics or foundation models
• Track record of successful production robotics deployments
• History of technical leadership and team mentorship
• Experience bridging research with practical engineering implementation in robotics systems
• Extensive programming skills in Python and PyTorch/JAX