Sr Manager, Hardware Dev, Last Mile Delivery Automation

Amazon • Bellevue, WA

2d

About The Position

The Senior Manager of Hardware Development will lead the end-to-end design, development, validation, and industrialization of hardware platforms that enable Amazon’s next generation of last-mile delivery automation. This role owns the physical robot and vehicle-adjacent hardware systems that operate in complex, unstructured outdoor environments and directly impact customer experience, associate safety, and Amazon’s cost-to-serve. This leader will manage multidisciplinary hardware teams spanning mechanical, electrical, thermal, compute, sensing, and manufacturing engineering, and will be accountable for translating business requirements into scalable, safety-certifiable hardware architectures. The role requires deep technical judgment to balance performance, reliability, safety, cost, and supply-chain resilience while operating under tight timelines from prototype through pilot and into high-volume production. The Senior Manager will partner closely with autonomy, software, operations, safety, and supply-chain teams to ensure tight hardware–software co-design and smooth integration into Amazon’s broader last-mile technology ecosystem. They will drive design reviews, make one-way and two-way door decisions, own vendor strategy (including ODM/JDM and contract manufacturing), and establish robust validation and qualification processes across diverse operating conditions (weather, terrain, human interaction, and regulatory constraints). Success in this role means delivering hardware platforms that are not only technically excellent but also manufacturable at scale, serviceable in the field, and economically viable—enabling Amazon to safely deploy robotic delivery systems across cities, climates, and use cases while continuously improving reliability, safety metrics, and total cost of ownership. The Last Mile Delivery Automation Hardware team is responsible for building the physical platforms that enable safe, scalable, and cost-effective robotic delivery at Amazon. The team designs and delivers safety-critical hardware systems—including robots, compute and sensor platforms, power and actuation systems, and manufacturable mechanical architectures—that operate in complex, unstructured outdoor environments alongside customers, associates, and the public. Working closely with autonomy, software, operations, safety, and supply-chain partners, the team focuses on tight hardware–software co-design, rapid learning through pilots, and disciplined transition from prototype to high-volume production. Our mission is to turn robotics technology into reliable, serviceable products that can be deployed across cities, climates, and delivery use cases while continuously improving safety, customer experience, and Amazon’s cost to serve.

Requirements

• 5+ years of manufacturing, process, industrial engineering experience
• 10+ years of engineering team management experience
• Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• Experience in engineering team management
• Experience in manufacturing, process, or industrial engineering
• Experience developing and testing mechanical robotics equipment
• Experience in system-level integration
• Experience with DFx (cost, test, manufacturing)

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or a related field
• Knowledge of MS Excel, AutoCAD, MS Project, and software for technical document writing such as Visio, Word, or PowerPoint
• Experience in technical leadership of development, testing, and implementation of large-scale, complex technology projects
• Experience working as a technical lead

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end hardware delivery for last-mile delivery automation platforms, from architecture definition and prototype development through pilot deployment and high-volume production, ensuring performance, safety, reliability, cost, and scalability targets are met.
• Lead and grow a multidisciplinary hardware organization, including mechanical, electrical, compute, sensing, thermal, reliability, and manufacturing engineering teams; set technical direction, operating mechanisms, and talent development plans.
• Define hardware architecture and system tradeoffs, making high-judgment decisions across actuators, power systems, sensors, compute, structures, and thermal design to meet demanding outdoor ODD, safety certification, and autonomy requirements.
• Drive hardware–software co-design in close partnership with autonomy, perception, controls, and platform software teams to ensure seamless integration, clear ownership boundaries, and rapid iteration from lab to field.
• Own vendor and supply-chain strategy, including ODM/JDM selection, contract manufacturing, component sourcing, and long-term cost-down roadmaps, while managing geopolitical, regulatory, and single-supplier risks.
• Establish robust validation, verification, and qualification frameworks, covering environmental durability, reliability growth, safety, manufacturability, and serviceability across diverse weather, terrain, and human-interaction scenarios.
• Lead safety-critical design and certification efforts, partnering with safety, legal, and regulatory teams to ensure compliance with applicable standards and to define Amazon-specific safety bars for operating in public spaces.
• Own hardware cost and business outcomes, including BOM targets, yield, warranty exposure, field failure rates, and total cost of ownership, with clear mechanisms to link hardware decisions to Amazon’s cost-to-serve metrics.
• Drive cross-functional execution and alignment, coordinating with operations, deployment, field service, and last-mile technology teams to ensure hardware is operationally viable and scalable.
• Represent hardware strategy at the executive level, clearly communicating tradeoffs, risks, milestones, and investment needs, and influencing roadmap and resourcing decisions across Amazon leadership.

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: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees