Senior Applied Scientist - Manipulation RL, Amazon Robotics - Vulcan Stow

Amazon is hiring a Senior Applied Scientist - Manipulation RL, Amazon Robotics - Vulcan Stow in Seattle, United States. It pays $167k-$226k 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.
The listed pay starts close to the typical applied scientist posting on Level.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Python, PyTorch and reinforcement learning.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

Lead reinforcement learning research and deployment for robotic manipulation in unstructured environments at Amazon Robotics.

pythonpytorch

reinforcement-learningroboticsmachine-learningsimulation

Our organization in Amazon Robotics builds robots that perform contact-rich manipulation safely and reliably in complex, unstructured environments, at Amazon scale. Our scientists and engineers push the boundaries of robotic manipulation to handle enormous object diversity, bringing deep expertise across planning, control, perception, and machine learning. We learn from real-world data at a scale that few teams in robotics can access.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Applied Scientist to help guide a small team advancing reinforcement learning for manipulation. We are creating robots that learn how to push, flip, rearrange, and dexterously insert items with unparalleled robustness, speed, and reliability. Our goal is to deploy robots that will work across Amazon's global network and can handle the full diversity of items that Amazon sells. You will set the technical direction for how we learn these behaviors, from simulation training through reliable execution on physical robots, and you will demonstrate new manipulation capabilities on real hardware at scale. This team's mission reaches beyond any single product: to invent and apply manipulation capabilities that generalize to many future robotics applications. The robots our organization already deploys at scale give you a rare proving ground to collect data, run experiments, and get new policies onto real hardware faster than almost anywhere in the field. You will raise the bar for scientific rigor and engineering quality, and mentor other scientists as the team grows.

Key job responsibilities
- Set the technical direction for learning non-prehensile and contact-rich manipulation policies, from testing the latest advances in the field through demonstrated capability on hardware.
- Oversee the development of reinforcement learning approaches that address the long tail of diverse, demanding manipulation conditions.
- Own the path from simulation training to reliable, real-time execution on physical robots, making evidence based calls on where learned approaches should replace engineered ones.
- Demonstrate new manipulation capabilities on real robots at scale, and turn one-off results into repeatable methods.
- Establish the standards, evaluation practices, and data-informed improvement loops that the team builds on.
- Mentor scientists and engineers, and raise the bar for applied science rigor and engineering quality.
- Partner across control, perception, and hardware to integrate learned behaviors into working systems.
- Represent Amazon in academia through publications and scientific presentations.

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

Basic qualifications

- PhD or equivalent research experience
- 7+ years of applied research experience
- 3+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Track record of training reinforcement learning or imitation learning policies in simulation and successfully transferring them to physical systems
- 3+ years of building and deploying learning-based control on robotic systems
- Experience leading technical projects and mentoring scientists or engineers

Preferred qualifications

- Experience with sim-to-real transfer at scale (domain randomization, system identification, etc)
- Experience designing reward functions and training curricula for reinforcement learning on robotic systems
- Experience with contact-rich or non-prehensile manipulation, including extrinsic dexterity and force/torque control
- Publications in top robotics or machine learning venues (RSS, CoRL, ICRA, NeurIPS, ICML, etc.)

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, WA, Seattle - 167,100.00 - 226,100.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Senior Applied Scientist - Manipulation RL, Amazon Robotics - Vulcan Stow 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

Senior Applied Scientist - Manipulation RL, Amazon Robotics - Vulcan Stow is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $167k-$226k a year.
The role is based in US, WA, Seattle.
The job was posted on August 25, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
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

Reinforcement learningRoboticsMachine learningSimulationPythonPyTorch

Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level

Deep learning LLM Generative AI NLP TensorFlow Spark

Pay

This job starts at: $167k
Typical applied scientist job: $172k

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 reinforcement learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where robotics was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where machine 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?
Walk me through how you've used Python in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Reinforcement learning, Robotics, Machine 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.

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