System Development Engineer II, Manipulation Robotics

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