Optical System Engineer III, Robotics

Optical System Engineer III, Amazon Robotics

Job :  |  Services LLC

At Amazon Robotics, we build sensing and compute technologies that power the next generation of intelligent robots. The Matrix team is a fast-paced, multidisciplinary innovation group focused on developing advanced sensor and compute systems that enable key robotic capabilities  work with a builder's mindset—rapid experimentation, deep technical ownership, and strong cross-functional collaboration.

• You will oversee customer discovery sessions probing beyond stated needs to uncover latent requirements and translate them into quantifiable design goals.
• You will own the full requirements lifecycle from capture through validation, formalizing specifications in tools like Jama and explaining the intent behind the numbers to engineers.
• You will drive system architecture selections for sensor and compute products, making trade-offs across optical, mechanical, electrical, and software domains. This includes decomposing system requirements into functional specs for each sub-team, developing SRS, ICDs, and V&V plans, and guiding cross-functional design reviews to identify gaps and risks early.
• You will own product verification end-to-end—defining test specs, directing verification campaigns, authoring application notes, and driving comparative benchmarking that informs roadmap priorities.
• You will influence across disciplines, mentor engineers on systems thinking and customer engagement, and contribute to hiring efforts that raise the bar for the team.

You start by overseeing a customer engagement—clarifying sensing and compute issues and defining the problem space. You then decompose requirements into optical, mechanical, electrical, and compute specs, facilitating alignment across sub-teams. Mid-day, you lead a design review, resolve a critical sensor–compute trade-off, and update requirements in Jama. You close the day by running a results-oriented benchmark and presenting a roadmap recommendation to stakeholders.

This role is the connective tissue of the team—ensuring what customers need is what gets built, verified, and documented.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or equivalent
• 8+ years of experience in systems engineering, product definition, or technical program management for hardware products
• Demonstrated experience as the primary technical interface with customers, gathering requirements and translating them into engineering specifications
• 2 years of experience leading system architecture decisions across multiple engineering disciplines (optics, mechanics, electronics) in a product development environment
• 2 years of experience developing system requirements, functional specifications, interface control documents, and verification/validation plans
• Proven ability to operate autonomously in ambiguous situations, defining both the problem and the solution
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting technical content to leadership and diverse stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or above in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related fields
• 4+ years of experience with sensing systems (cameras, LiDAR, structured light, ToF, or similar) and compute platforms in robotics, consumer electronics, or industrial applications
• Background combining optoelectronics/optical expertise with mechanical or electrical engineering skills. Familiarity with optical system performance parameters (resolution, MTF) and ability to translate them into mechanical, electrical, and compute constraints
• 8+ years of experience with sensor architecture, packaging optoelectronics, and PCBA design considerations
• Experience in mobile robotics sensing applications as well as conducting product benchmarking and contributing to technology or product roadmap planning
• 6+ years of experience with requirements management tools

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

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