Sr Applied Scientist - Robotics Simulation, Amazon Robotics R&D

Amazon•Westboro, WI

37d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Applied Scientist to join our Robotics Simulation (AR R&D) team developing simulation environments and foundational models for robotics. You will lead the development of 3D physics-based simulation environments and tools to automate reusable sim asset creation for training large-scale machine learning models.

Requirements

PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
Experience with neural deep learning methods and machine learning

Nice To Haves

Broad experience across a range of physics simulators (IsaacSim, IssacLab, MuJoCo, Drake, etc.), both as a sim “power-user” and technical developer
First-hand experience in sim2real transfer (i.e. developing learned policies in sim and successfully getting them to work on real robots)
Experiencing in closing sim2real gaps both in terms of visual fidelity and physics fidelity
Deep expertise in robotics (controls, motion planning, perception, etc.), ideally both in the context of manipulation and locomotion
Deep expertise in reinforcement learning, especially in the context of robotics
Experience with VLAs and using simulation for data generation and benchmarking
Experience with ROS2

Responsibilities

Mentor a team of scientists on Robotic Simulation best practices
Establish processes for developing simulations for reinforcement learning, closed-loop simulations and synthetic data generation
Create frameworks for incorporating essential robotics features, including accurate modeling of sensors, actuators, and controllers into simulations
Build real-to-sim workflows for dynamic environments and robotics tasks
Direct the implementation of simulation features to minimize sim-to-real gaps through domain randomization and system identification
Create asset tool chains supporting industry-standard formats (URDF, MJCF, USD)
Collaborate closely with a team of ML researchers to enable large-scale robotics training pipelines

Benefits

Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
Maternity and Parental Leave Options
Paid Time Off (PTO)
401(k) Plan
sign-on payments
restricted stock units (RSUs)
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