jobs

Principal Applied Scientist, Contact-Rich Manipulation, AR Manipulation HW & Systems

How should a robot dig a single item out of a cluttered bin, feel when it has made contact, and adjust in real time without crushing what it touches? Single- and dual-arm contact-rich manipulation at production scale is still being solved.

Company

Amazon

Location

North Reading, Massachusetts, USA

Status

Open

Posted

2026-08-31T00:00:00+00:00

Amazon's Manipulation Robotics team is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist in North Reading, Massachusetts, on-site, to set the technical direction for contact-rich manipulation in warehouse grasping systems. The work covers force-aware control, compliant behaviors, tactile sensing, and the boundary between classical controllers and learned policies, including hands-on critical-path code and end-effector co-design. Candidates need a PhD or equivalent record, Python and C++, and demonstrated force, impedance or admittance control expertise. Mentorship and hiring are part of the role.