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Applied Scientist, Safe Control

Amazon· Amazon Robotics / Compass
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Pasadena$142.8k - $193.2kfull-timePosted 1w ago

About the role

Applied Scientist to develop core Control Barrier Function (CBF) algorithms for the Compass safety system, bridging theory and real-world robotic hardware with safety-certified deployment.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement novel CBF algorithms that provide formal safety guarantees while minimizing conservatism to maximize the operating envelope for each robot platform
  • Compute and refine invariant sets for high-dimensional robotic systems with scalable methods
  • Design formulations for hybrid dynamical systems with discrete mode transitions and provable safety across switching boundaries
  • Address theory-to-practice gap by handling model uncertainty, sensor noise, actuation delays, and computational latency
  • Create reduced-order and full-order dynamics models (white-box and black-box)
  • Implement real-time optimization solvers within safety-critical control loop timing budgets
  • Develop formal arguments and documentation for third-party safety certification
  • Validate algorithms through simulation and hardware experiments, characterize failure modes and safety margins
  • Contribute to theoretical foundations of CBFs through publications
  • Collaborate with perception, planning, locomotion, and manipulation teams for upstream/downstream integration

Qualifications

  • PhD, or Master's degree and 4+ years of deep learning, computer vision, human robotic interaction, algorithms implementation experience
  • Deep expertise in Control Barrier Functions, including theoretical foundations and practical implementation
  • Strong mathematical background in dynamical systems theory, nonlinear control, and formal verification or reachability analysis
  • Proficiency in C++ and Python with experience implementing control algorithms for real-time systems
  • Publication record at venues such as CDC, ACC, ICRA, RSS, Automatica, TAC

Skills

Required:Control Barrier Functions (CBFs)Dynamical systems theoryReal-time control programmingC++Python
Nice to have:Formal verification / reachability analysis

Benefits

  • Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage
  • Maternity and Parental Leave Options
  • Paid Time Off (PTO)
  • 401(k) Plan
  • Health and wellness benefits, life insurance, EAP, mental health support, flexible spending accounts, adoption and surrogacy reimbursement (as part of comprehensive benefits)
Last updated Oct 25, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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