Design Technologist, Robot Animation , Fauna

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 robots 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 robots form factor and joint constraints
- Develop tools and workflows (Python Blender/Maya scripting) to accelerate animation authoring and integrate with the robots 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 wont arrive until building for robotics becomes far more accessible. Today too much effort is spent reinventing the fundamentals. Were 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. Were building robots that feel responsive expressive and genuinely useful.
At Fauna youll work at the frontier of this space helping define how robots move manipulate and interact with people in natural environments. Its 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 were interested in hearing from you.

- 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)

- 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 for more information. If the country/region youre applying in isnt 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 NY New York - 158100.00 - 213800.00 USD annually