System Development Engineer II, Manipulation Robotics

Amazon is hiring a System Development Engineer II, Manipulation Robotics. It pays $129k-$175k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this role Uses AI ●●○○: an ordinary role that requires AI tools.
The posting mentions Python, Ros and robotics among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a mid-level role.
Amazon has 21,000+ other open roles on Level.
Posted within the past two weeks.

AI in this role

System Development Engineer to build laboratory test infrastructure and data pipelines for manipulation robotics systems at Amazon.

pythonros

roboticstest-automationhardware-integrationfirmware

Our team is pushing the limits in contact-rich manipulation for robotic systems that pick and move diverse items from cluttered containers at high speed and quality. The field has not settled which architectures, learning and controls stacks, and hardware embodiments will best solve the problem, so we need to create prototype systems quickly, test them in realistic and repeatable conditions, and adapt as we learn. We are looking for a Systems Development Engineer to develop a laboratory test strategy, design and build test infrastructure, and drive the test and learning loop. This role is hands-on, in the lab and in code.

The Manipulation Robotics team develops robotic workcells to pick, grasp, and move millions of items and packages across Amazon's fulfillment network. You will build early surrogate systems, leveraging commercial robots, off-the-shelf hardware, and open-source software where they fit, to enable testing and evaluation before the target platform is ready. As the design matures, you will collaborate closely with the controls engineers and compliant mechanism designers on the test strategy, evaluation, and iteration. Your automation and data pipelines will make results repeatable and trustworthy, giving us the evidence to support deployment and scaling decisions.

Key job responsibilities
- Build the laboratory and test infrastructure that lets the team put new grasping ideas in front of real items quickly, adapting it as the design evolves and keeping it available, maintainable, and documented so engineers and scientists can run evaluations independently.
- Bring up robot arms and workcells in the lab, including motion, safety, and integration with the test harness.
- Partner with mechanical, electrical, controls, and science engineers to answer open design questions through testing, so tradeoffs across performance, cost, complexity, and reliability get settled with data.
- Establish the characterization procedures and infrastructure that inform finger, gripper, arm, and workcell decisions, and produce the data simulation is calibrated against.
- Instrument lab setups broadly from the start, anticipating what data will be needed to answer future questions, compare architectures, and inform which sensing the production design carries.
- Own the software that makes testing possible, including hardware integration, data acquisition, test automation, and analysis tooling.
- Write and adapt bench-level controls firmware, purpose-built to get a mechanism moving and instrumented quickly so an idea can be judged while it is still cheap to change.
- Automate item presentation to support volume and repeatability testing across a variety of workflows and robot embodiments.
- Diagnose problems across hardware, software, and the operating environment when a test result and reality disagree, and eliminate the contributing cause with a permanent fix.

A day in the life
You will start your day reviewing system health dashboards and operational metrics, then shift into building or refining automation that keeps your team's services running smoothly. You might spend part of the afternoon pairing with a teammate on a design review or troubleshooting a tricky production issue. Along the way, you will collaborate with partner teams to align on technical decisions and share best practices. Expect to balance hands-on engineering with mentoring newer team members and contributing to planning discussions.

Amazon offers a full range of benefits that assist 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!

About the team
Our team is focused on building and operating reliable systems that support Amazon's customers at scale. We value collaboration, continuous improvement, and a shared commitment to operational excellence. We are investing in automation, resilience, and smarter tooling to help us move faster while maintaining the quality our customers expect. If you are excited about working alongside thoughtful engineers who care about doing things right, we would love to hear from you.

Basic qualifications

- Knowledge of systems engineering fundamentals (networking, storage, operating systems)
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 2+ years building prototype or test hardware for electromechanical or robotic systems, including hands-on fabrication, assembly, and integrating sensors and actuators.
- Experience writing and maintaining software for hardware integration, test automation, data acquisition, or analysis, in Python, C/C++, or a related language.
- Working knowledge of networking fundamentals and Linux systems.
- Experience adapting existing hardware or open-source software to stand in for a component that was not yet available.
- Experience building data pipelines that turn test output into usable data.
- Experience debugging failures that span hardware, firmware, and software.

Preferred qualifications

- Experience with embedded or controls firmware, for example motor control on a microcontroller or a real-time target.
- Experience with robot software frameworks such as ROS 2, hands-on bring-up of robot arms, and integrating open-source perception or manipulation packages.
- Experience with rapid-prototyping and fabrication tools, including 3D printing and basic machining.
- Experience with automated test frameworks and continuous-integration pipelines for hardware or robotics.
- Experience with fatigue, cycle-life, or reliability testing of mechanisms.
- Background working in a research or advanced-development environment where priorities and requirements evolve as work progresses.
- Experience owning shared lab or test infrastructure that other engineers depended on.

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, MA, North Reading - 129,200.00 - 174,800.00 USD annually

How we rate this

System Development Engineer II, Manipulation Robotics at Amazon rates 50 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Uses AI (AI Level 2 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Uses AI. An ordinary role that requires AI tools.

●●●● 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

System Development Engineer II, Manipulation Robotics is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 2 of 4: Uses AI.
The listed salary is $129k-$175k a year.
The role is based in US, MA, North Reading.
The job was posted on October 12, 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

RoboticsTest AutomationHardware IntegrationFirmwarePythonRos

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 test automation was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where hardware integration was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where firmware 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: Robotics, Test Automation, Hardware Integration, Firmware, 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.
Put the AI tool in a bullet point about what you did, not just in a skills list. This role treats it as a required part of the job.

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