AmazonPrincipal Audio Scientist, Fauna
Amazon is hiring a Principal Audio Scientist, Fauna in New York, United States. It pays $219k-$296k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Level.
AI in this role
Design, prototype, and ship advanced audio and speech algorithms for robotic hearing systems as a technical authority.
You will design, prototype, and ship the hardest algorithms in the robot's audio system. You will set the audio architecture that other engineers build on, shape hardware decisions across robot generations, mentor the engineers and scientists working on audio, and be the person teams come to when the robot can't hear.
Key job responsibilities
- Set the long-range science roadmap and technical architecture for the robot's audio system, and serve as Fauna's primary technical authority on robot hearing
- Design and implement suppression of the robot's own noise from motors, fans, and moving joints
- Design and implement echo cancellation for the robot's own voice, so people can interrupt it naturally
- Develop multi-microphone processing that holds up as the robot and the people around it move, including locating who is speaking so the robot can turn toward them
- Make on-robot listening decisions robust to internal and external noise sources: wake word, voice activity, and whether speech is directed at the robot
- Drive microphone and speaker placement, enclosure acoustics, and vibration isolation decisions with mechanical, electrical, and industrial design, backed by your own measurements
- Design the robot-specific data collection and evaluation methods to validate the performance of our audio design
- Present audio science and its tradeoffs to senior leadership and partner teams
- Mentor scientists and engineers, raising the scientific bar for audio across the organization through design reviews, code reviews, and hiring
Basic qualifications
- Experience influencing multiple stakeholders and leading cross functional teams across geographies and business units
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Acoustics, or a related field and 7+ years of relevant research experience after degree, or a Master's degree and 12+ years of equivalent experience
- Deep, hands-on expertise in multi-microphone audio processing, such as beamforming, echo cancellation, and noise suppression
- Track record of designing and shipping audio front-end algorithms on a physical device with its own acoustic challenges, such as a smart speaker, wearable, vehicle, or robot
- Experience influencing hardware decisions on microphone array design and acoustic integration
Preferred qualifications
- Experience suppressing device-generated noise from motors, fans, or mechanical vibration
- Experience with sound source localization or tracking moving talkers
- Experience adapting wake word or voice activity detection to noisy, far-field conditions
- Experience optimizing audio algorithms for real-time execution on embedded or edge hardware
- Experience with robotics, or with sensor fusion that combines audio with other sensors such as cameras or joint state
- Experience mentoring scientists and engineers
- Publications and/or patents in audio or speech processing
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
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, NY, New York - 218,800.00 - 295,900.00 USD annually
How we rate this
Principal Audio Scientist, Fauna at Amazon rates 85 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.
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. Open the description and count.
Prepare for this job
A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where acoustics was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where speech recognition was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where audio signal processing was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where noise suppression was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where echo cancellation was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Acoustics, Speech Recognition, Audio Signal Processing, Noise Suppression, and Echo Cancellation. 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.
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