Postdoctoral Researcher – Visual Localization & Navigation | Amazon Last Mile

Amazon Amazon · Big Tech · Santa Cruz, CA · Applied Science

Research scientist role focused on visual localization and navigation for robotics and logistics platforms, involving metric-semantic mapping, relocalization, and monocular localization using geometric and learning-based approaches.

What you'd actually do

  1. Work closely with a senior science advisor, collaborate with other scientists and engineers, and be part of Amazon’s vibrant and diverse global science community.
  2. Publish your innovation in top-tier academic venues and hone your presentation skills.
  3. Be inspired by challenges and opportunities to invent cutting-edge techniques in your area(s) of expertise.

Skills

Required

  • PhD in computer vision, robotics, SLAM, or a related field received within 2 years of starting the program.
  • Proven publication record in visual localization, SLAM, 3D scene understanding, or related technical fields.
  • Experience in metric-semantic mapping, visual relocalization, or monocular localization.
  • Proficiency in technologies relevant to the subfield (e.g., deep learning frameworks, geometric optimization, 3D reconstruction).
  • Speak, write, and read fluently in English.

Nice to have

  • Contributions to open-source software (e.g., MIT-licensed projects on GitHub) demonstrating practical system-building skills alongside strong research output.
  • Experience with metric-semantic mapping, object-centric mapping, or semantic SLAM systems.
  • Familiarity with geometric and learning-based approaches to monocular localization and geometrically consistent relocalization.
  • Experience with loop closure detection, long-term map consistency, and place recognition.
  • Strong programming skills in Python and C++; familiarity with frameworks like PyTorch, ROS, Open3D, or GTSAM.
  • Experience of making research work in practice—turning ideas into implementations that run on real systems, not just in simulation or on paper.
  • Experience designing experiments and performing rigorous statistical analysis of results.
  • Ability to make principled tradeoffs between model accuracy, inference speed, and system constraints.

What the JD emphasized

  • Proven publication record in visual localization, SLAM, 3D scene understanding, or related technical fields.
  • Experience in metric-semantic mapping, visual relocalization, or monocular localization.
  • Ability to make principled tradeoffs between model accuracy, inference speed, and system constraints.

Other signals

  • visual perception systems
  • spatial AI
  • real-time constraints
  • real hardware deployment