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

Amazon is hiring an Applied Scientist II - Robotics Simulation, Amazon Robotics R&D. It pays $172k-$222k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this applied scientist role is Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
Pay on this posting starts in line with the typical applied scientist posting on Level.
The posting mentions vLLM, PyTorch and JAX among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a mid-level role.
Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Design and validate GPU-accelerated simulation environments and robot learning pipelines for physical AI.

vLLMPyTorchJAXNvidia Isaac Lab

roboticsreinforcement-learningimitation-learningsimulationpython

We are looking for an Applied Scientist to join the Robotics Simulation team at Amazon Robotics. In this role you will design, build, and validate the simulation environments and policy training pipelines that enable robots to learn manipulation and mobility skills in simulation and transfer them to real hardware.

You will work at the intersection of robotics simulation science and modern Physical AI: building GPU-accelerated RL environments, implementing imitation learning workflows, characterizing sim-to-real gaps, tuning physics parameters against real-world data, and evaluating learned policies both in simulation and on physical robots. You will collaborate closely with SDEs who build platform infrastructure, Technical Artists who create simulation assets, and partner science teams who consume your environments and pipelines for their model development.

This is a hands-on, execution-focused role. You will own specific simulation science deliverables end-to-end, from environment design through policy evaluation, with increasing scope and independence over time. You will contribute to technical design discussions, propose improvements to the team's simulation fidelity and training methodology, and help establish best practices for robot learning in simulation.

Key job responsibilities
* Design and implement GPU-accelerated reinforcement learning and imitation learning environments in NVIDIA Isaac Lab for manipulation and mobility tasks.
* Build and maintain policy training pipelines supporting diverse model architectures (diffusion policies, VLAs, behavior cloning, actor-critic RL) and evaluate trained policies in simulation.
* Characterize and reduce sim-to-real gaps through systematic validation: compare simulated sensor outputs, kinematics, and dynamics against real-world robot data, then implement targeted improvements.
* Implement domain randomization strategies (visual, physics, geometric) to improve policy robustness and transfer to real hardware.
* Develop sim-to-real transfer techniques including system identification, physics parameter calibration, and visual domain adaptation.
* Create robot embodiment validation tests (joint kinematics, actuator response, contact behavior) to ensure digital twins are faithful to real hardware.
* Build data pipelines for recording, replaying, and augmenting demonstration data (from teleoperation or automated trajectory generation) to scale training data volume.
* Contribute to end-effector modeling and contact dynamics tuning, ensuring physically plausible gripper and tool interactions in simulation.
* Author design documents for new simulation science capabilities and contribute to technical reviews.
* Collaborate with partner science teams to understand their model architectures and ensure simulation environments meet their training requirements.

A day in the life
Amazon offers a full range of benefits that support you and eligible family members, including domestic partners and their children. 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:

1. Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
2. Maternity and Parental Leave Options
3. Paid Time Off (PTO)
4. 401(k) Plan

If you are not sure that every qualification on the list above describes you exactly, we'd still love to hear from you! At Amazon, we value people with unique backgrounds, experiences, and skillsets. If you’re passionate about this role and want to make an impact on a global scale, please apply!

About the team
The Robotics Simulation team is a multidisciplinary organization of SDEs, Applied Scientists, and Technical Artists at Amazon Robotics. We build the simulation infrastructure that powers Physical AI development, from photorealistic synthetic data to GPU-accelerated training environments. Our simulation stack enables robots to be designed, trained, and validated entirely in simulation before physical hardware exists, compressing development timelines and de-risking robotics programs across Amazon.
The team delivers end-to-end simulation stacks for Amazon's robotics programs, including high-fidelity robot digital twins, teleoperation data collection infrastructure, scalable synthetic demonstration generation, policy training and inference pipelines (RL, imitation learning, VLAs), domain randomization for sim-to-real transfer, and model validation in simulation. We partner closely with hardware teams, science organizations, and robotics program leads across Amazon Robotics.

Basic qualifications

- PhD, or Master's degree
- Knowledge of ML frameworks including JAX, PyTorch, vLLM, SGLang, Dynamo, TorchXLA, and TensorRT
- Experience in robotics design, automation systems development, control systems design, or related product development
- 2+ years of experience working with physics simulation platforms for robot learning (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim/Lab, PyBullet, Drake, or equivalent).
- Demonstrated experience training robot policies using reinforcement learning or imitation learning and evaluating them in simulation.
- Experience with articulated robot simulation, including URDF/MJCF/USD formats and rigid/soft body dynamics.
- Familiarity with sim-to-real transfer concepts (domain randomization, system identification, or physics calibration).

Preferred qualifications

- Hands-on experience deploying learned policies on real robot hardware (manipulation arms, mobile platforms, or mobile manipulators).
- Experience with NVIDIA Isaac Lab/Sim, Omniverse, or USD-based simulation workflows.
- Experience with modern Physical AI architectures: vision-language-action models, diffusion-based policy learning, action-chunking transformers, or behavior cloning from demonstrations.
- Familiarity with teleoperation systems and demonstration data collection pipelines (haptic devices, recording in HDF5/zarr, or similar).
- Experience with contact dynamics modeling and parameter tuning for grippers, suction systems, or other end-effectors.
- Familiarity with ROS2 and robotics middleware for integration with robot software stacks.
- Experience with GPU-accelerated parallel simulation (running thousands of environments concurrently for RL training).
- Experience with trajectory optimization or motion planning (MoveIt, OMPL, or equivalent) in the context of generating training data.
- Publications at robotics or ML venues (CoRL, ICRA, IROS, RSS, NeurIPS, ICML) are a plus but not required.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. 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. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including 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, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 171,600.00 - 222,200.00 USD annually
USA, MA, Westboro - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Applied Scientist II - Robotics Simulation, Amazon Robotics R&D at Amazon rates 90 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Applied Scientist II - Robotics Simulation, Amazon Robotics R&D is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $172k-$222k a year.
The role is based in US, MA, Westboro.
The job was posted on July 9, 2026.
Seniority: mid.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

RoboticsReinforcement learningImitation LearningSimulationPythonvLLMPyTorchJAX

Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level

Python Machine learning C++Java Deep learning LLM

Pay

This job starts at: $172k
Typical applied scientist job: $169k

This posting starts close to the typical applied scientist job. See applied scientist jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where robotics was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where reinforcement learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where imitation learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where simulation was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where python was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Robotics, Reinforcement learning, Imitation Learning, Simulation, and Python. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

Get your CV reviewed before you apply

Send your CV and the role you want next. Your review arrives by email within 3 days.

Get a free CV review Check your resume with the ATS resume checker