Robotics Design Engineer Jobs in Rutherford, NJ (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking a Design Technologist to define the expressive motion vocabulary that makes our robot feel alive: how it gestures when speaking, how it shows curiosity, excitement, hesitation, and calm. You will work with motion capture, hand animation, and procedural techniques to build a library of movements that bring our robots to life in real time.
This role sits at the intersection of character animation and robotics. You need strong animation instincts - timing, weight, personality - and enough technical fluency to work within the constraints of physical robots that must work in the real world.
Key job responsibilities
- Author expressive robot animations that articulate the robot's core personality: locomotion styles, conversational gesture, emotional reactions, interactive behaviors
- Partner closely with HRI researchers and robotics engineers to understand what the robot can physically do and what interactions need to feel like
- Work with motion capture to create base animations, then adapt and refine them for our robot's form factor and joint constraints
- Develop tools and workflows (Python, Blender/Maya scripting) to accelerate animation authoring and integrate with the robot's behavior pipeline
- Test animations on real hardware and iterate based on how they read in person, from all angles
About the team
Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company, is building capable, safe, and genuinely delightful robots for everyday life. Our goal is simple: make robots people actually want to live and interact with in everyday human spaces.
We believe that future won't arrive until building for robotics becomes far more accessible. Today, too much effort is spent reinventing the fundamentals. We're changing that by developing tightly integrated hardware and software systems that make it faster, safer, and more intuitive to create real-world robotic products.
Our work spans the full stack: mechanical design, control systems, dynamic modeling, and intelligent software. The focus is not just functionality, but experience. We're building robots that feel responsive, expressive, and genuinely useful.
At Fauna, you'll work at the frontier of this space, helping define how robots move, manipulate, and interact with people in natural environments. It's an opportunity to solve hard problems across hardware and software with a team focused on making robotics accessible and joyful to build.
If you care about making robotics real for everyone and building systems that are as delightful as they are capable, we're interested in hearing from you.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Have an available online portfolio
- Experience with one or more of the following industry tools: 3D Studio Max, Maya, Photoshop, Zbrush, Substance, Unreal, Blender, etc
- 3+ years of professional experience in character animation, motion design, or technical animation
- Demonstrated ability to create expressive, personality-driven motion (demo reel required)
- Scripting ability in Python or equivalent for tooling, pipeline integration, and procedural animation
- Experience working within technical constraints (real-time engines, joint/physics limits, or hardware platforms)
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with motion capture: directing sessions, cleaning data, retargeting to non-human characters
- Experience animating for stylized characters (robots, creatures, mascots)
- Familiarity with real-time animation systems (state machines, blend trees, procedural layers)
- Experience with robotics, physical characters, or animatronics
- Background in film, games, or themed entertainment where animation drives character personality
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, NY, New York - 145,000.00 - 196,100.00 USD annually