Advanced Robotics Controls Engineer, Frontier AI & Robotics

Amazon • San Francisco, CA

19h

About The Position

About the Role: We are seeking a highly skilled Mechatronics or Controls Engineer with deep expertise in actuation systems, low-level motor control, sensor integration and system characterization to help design, prototype, and refine high degree-of-freedom robotic systems. You will be a core contributor in the hardware–software integration loop, ensuring that our systems meet strict performance, safety, and research requirements. This role demands a blend of rigorous engineering skill, hands-on prototyping ability, and close collaboration with AI researchers and software engineers. Beyond day-to-day hardware and software development, this role also provides exciting avenues to contribute to innovative research projects. Whether you’re passionate about low-level control, state estimation, sensor fusion, or innovative actuation techniques, this role offers opportunities to explore research directions while shaping the core control stack that drives high–degree-of-freedom humanoid robots. About the team Frontier AI & Robotics (FAR) is the team at Amazon building the next generation of embodied intelligence. FAR drives the development and implementation of advanced AI models within Amazon’s operations that enable robots to see, reason, and act on the world around them, supporting a number of different warehouse automation tasks.

Requirements

• Master’s or PhD in Controls Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field
• 3+ years of relevant industry experience
• Knowledge of actuator and control system implementation
• Experience with embedded firmware for control applications
• Familiarity with robotic system calibration
• Understanding of control theory and kinematics fundamentals
• Experience with basic sensor integration (encoders, force-torque sensors)
• Experience with programming languages like C++, Python, MATLAB

Nice To Haves

• Experience in automating, deploying, and supporting large-scale infrastructure
• Experience with distributed systems at scale
• Experience with high-DOF robotic systems.
• Experience developing inverse kinematics (IK) solvers, kinematic calibration, and running motion simulations (e.g. MuJoCo, IsaacSim, MATLAB/Simulink).
• Experience producing models and simulations of complex, high degree-of-freedom dynamic electromechanical systems and actuators
• Ability to spec or design force/torque sensors, or develop algorithms for estimating forces from motor currents for compliance and collision handling.
• Ability to implement and tune inverse kinematics and dynamics algorithms; build and run simulations for system performance validation and motion planning
• Specify, source, or design force–torque sensing capabilities, including developing algorithms for estimating forces from motor currents. Integrate sensing into system-level control strategies for collision response, compliance, and back-drivability
• Proficiency in embedded firmware development for real-time control
• Knowledge of estimating and improving actuator back-drivability
• Knowledge of ROS/ROS 2 or similar robotic middleware.
• Experience with high-performance, safety-critical mechatronic systems.

Responsibilities

• Implement and test motor & actuator integration into electromechanical subsystems according to specifications
• Support the development and tuning of control systems, including position, velocity, and torque control loops
• Assist with interfacing control systems with higher-level platforms
• Help maintain motor control board hardware and firmware
• Execute established SysID routines for electromechanical subsystems; implement calibration procedures for sensors and actuators
• Ensure actuator and control systems adhere to safety and robustness requirements
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, and AI teams to prototype hardware solutions

Benefits

• 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
• parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level