Navigation Science Manager, Prime Air, Drone Delivery

Amazon Prime Air is seeking an Applied Scientist Manager to lead the team developing our next-generation drone navigation system. You will lead a team of 8–12 Applied Scientists, Research Scientists and Software Development Engineers who invent, model, develop, test, and deploy the state estimation algorithms.

Your team will own the full algorithm lifecycle: early prototypes and modeling, simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing, then flight test and deployment across a rapidly growing delivery network. You will also manage the feedback loop that brings real-world operational data back into the team to inform next generation of algorithm improvements.

Because our navigation software is safety-critical, you will work closely with the Controls, Perception, Safety, Simulation and Flight Test teams to deliver robust, fully verified algorithms. This role combines deep technical leadership with people leadership. You will hire and develop science-focused engineers, run a fast-paced agile development team and help shape the technical roadmap for autonomous navigation at Prime Air.

Key job responsibilities

• Lead a team of 8–12 Applied Scientists, Research Scientists and Software Development Engineers developing novel navigation and state estimation algorithms, including Kalman filtering (EKF/UKF, error-state), tightly and loosely coupled GNSS/INS integration, multi-sensor fusion and observability analysis, integrity monitoring (RAIM, fault detection and exclusion), and visual navigation (VIO/VSLAM).
• Drive day-to-day execution across the full development lifecycle: prototyping, modeling, simulation testing, hardware-in-the-loop testing, flight test and deployment to the production fleet.
• Lead the team in a scrum-style agile process: set sprint priorities, manage dependencies and deliver against program milestones.
• Build mechanisms that capture operational learnings from our delivery network, such as flight data, anomalies and performance trends, and feed them into the requirements and design of each new generation of algorithms.
• Set technical direction and raise the bar on scientific rigor.
• Partner with Flight controls, Perception, Hardware, Safety, Simulation and Flight Operations teams to define interfaces, requirements and verification evidence.
• Hire, mentor and develop Applied Scientists, Research Scientists and SDEs, building a diverse, high-performing team with a strong safety culture.
• Communicate technical strategy, trade-offs, risks and results clearly in writing and in reviews with senior leadership.
• PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• Experience directly managing scientists or machine learning engineers
• Experience with the Scrum methodology (or similar alternatives) for agile software development
• Experience programming in C++, Python, or related language