Optical System Engineer III, Amazon Robotics

About the role

Do you thrive at the intersection of customer needs and technical execution? Are you passionate about translating ambiguous, complex requirements into clear, actionable engineering specifications that drive product development? Do you bring the stewardship and judgment to single-handedly define problems, architect solutions, and influence cross-functional teams across optical, mechanical, and electrical domains? At Amazon Robotics, we build the sensing and compute technologies that power the next generation of intelligent robots. The Matrix team is a fast-paced, multidisciplinary innovation group focused on developing advanced sensor and compute systems that enable key robotic capabilities at scale. We work with a builder's mindset—rapid experimentation, deep technical ownership, and strong cross-functional collaboration. We are looking for a Systems Engineer who will serve as the primary technical bridge between our customers and our engineering teams. This is a senior solo contributor role requiring seasoned judgment, strategic thinking, and the ability to self-guide and take point on complex system-level initiatives—from the first customer conversation through architecture definition to a validated, manufacturable product.

Responsibilities

• Oversee customer discovery sessions probing beyond stated needs to uncover latent requirements and translate them into quantifiable design goals.
• Own the full requirements lifecycle from capture through validation, formalizing specifications in tools like Jama and walking engineers through the intent behind the numbers.
• Drive system architecture selections for sensor and compute products, making trade-offs across optical, mechanical, electrical, and software domains.
• Decompose system requirements into functional specs for each sub-team, developing SRS, ICDs, and V&V plans, and guiding cross-functional design reviews to identify gaps and risks early.
• Own product verification end-to-end—defining test specs, directing verification campaigns, authoring application notes, and driving comparative benchmarking that feeds directly into roadmap priorities.
• Influence across disciplines, mentor engineers on systems thinking and customer engagement, and contribute to hiring efforts that raise the bar for the team.

A day in the life

You start by overseeing a customer engagement—clarifying sensing and compute issues and defining the problem space. You then decompose requirements into optical, mechanical, electrical, and compute specs, facilitating alignment across sub-teams. Mid-day, you lead a design review, resolve a critical sensor-compute trade-off, and update requirements in Jama. You close the day running a results-oriented benchmark and presenting a roadmap recommendation to stakeholders. This role is the connective tissue of the team—ensuring what customers need is what gets built, verified, and documented.

About the team

The Matrix team designs and delivers advanced sensor and compute solutions that enable automation at scale. Our mission is to develop reliable, high-performance hardware from concept through production that drives operational excellence for our customers. We are a cross-functional engineering team spanning systems, electrical, mechanical, optical, and test disciplines. Our culture values ownership, technical depth, and collaborative problem-solving. Engineers think end-to-end from requirements through deployment and are empowered to make decisions that matter. If you want to shape products operating in the real world at scale, this is the team.

Basic qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or equivalent
• 8+ years of experience in systems engineering, product definition, or technical program management for hardware products
• Demonstrated experience as the primary technical interface with customers, gathering requirements and translating them into engineering specifications
• 2+ years of experience leading system architecture decisions across multiple engineering disciplines (optics, mechanics, electronics) in a product development environment
• 2+ years of experience developing system requirements, functional specifications, interface control documents, and verification/validation plans
• Proven ability to operate autonomously in ambiguous situations, defining both the problem and the solution
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting technical content to leadership and diverse stakeholders

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree or above in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related fields
• 4+ years of experience with sensing systems (cameras, LiDAR, structured light, ToF, or similar) and compute platforms in robotics, consumer electronics, or industrial applications
• Background combining optoelectronics/optical expertise with mechanical or electrical engineering skills. Familiarity with optical system performance parameters (resolution, MTF) and ability to translate them into mechanical, electrical, and compute constraints
• 8+ years of experience with sensor architecture, packaging optoelectronics, and PCBA design considerations
• Experience in mobile robotics sensing applications as well as conducting product benchmarking and contributing to technology or product roadmap planning
• 6+ years of experience with requirements management tools

Benefits

Amazon offers a full range of benefits that support 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:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Maternity and Parental Leave Options
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 401(k) Plan

Pay

USA, MA, North Reading: 151,200.00 - 204,600.00 USD annually. USA, MA, Westboro: 151,200.00 - 204,600.00 USD annually. 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.