Amazon is set to triple its R&D staff in Cambridge with 400 specialist positions at a new tech centre which opens in the autumn.
Staff there will focus their development skills on key products the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Look and Alexa digital assistant; as well as the Kindle, Fire tablet and Fire TV Stick.
Machine learning scientists, knowledge engineers, data scientists, mathematical modellers, speech scientists and software engineers will be employed at the 60,000 sq ft One The Square, located in the CB1 business district adjacent to Cambridge train station.
It will increase the number of Amazon tech experts in the city to 550, with staff at the existing development centre in the city’s Castle Hill area switching to focus on developing drone delivery system Prime Air.
“We are constantly inventing on behalf of our customers, and our development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London play a major role in Amazon’s global innovation story,” said Doug Gurr, UK country manager for Amazon.
“By the end of this year, we will have more than 1,500 innovation-related roles here in Britain, working on everything from machine learning and drone technology to streaming video technology and Amazon Web Services.”
The online retail giant recently announced that it will create 1,200 permanent jobs in Warrington in the North West at a huge new fulfilment centre.