Amazon is staffing up several new teams to go big in cloud and distribution tech (AMZN)

* Amazon hiring for new team in San Diego, and looking for leader of new cloud services effort

* Amazon also starting “autonomous robot” program

* New efforts highlight Amazon’s growing ambitions

Amazon is forming a couple of new teams to bolster its cloud and logistics businesses, according to new job listings seen by Business Insider.

The online retail giant is launching a new group in San Diego focused on creating software to help manage the distribution of products across Amazon’s network of warehouses.

The job listing for Amazon’s Supply Chain Optimization Technology group seeks an unspecified number of engineers.

“This will be a highly innovative team that is building brand new, mission critical software for millions of customers,” Amazon said in the job listing, noting that it is willing to relocate new hires to San Diego.

A separate recent job listing seeks a “leader and a founding member” of a new team to expand Amazon’s Web Services Marketplace.

AWS Marketplace is an online store that sells software that runs on Amazon’s cloud services. The new team will “extend the types of software that can be purchased through the Marketplace,” according to the listing.

Amazon everywhere

This project appears to be in the early stages, as the founding member will help craft the team’s vision and have a large influence on the greater AWS marketplace strategy, according to a job listing.

The new teams reflect Amazon’s rapid expansion and new priorities, as it focuses more on cloud computing — the company’s most profitable division — and as expands the types of products it sells in the real world, particularly with its pending $13.7 billion acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods.

Amazon’s Supply Chain Optimization is an existing part of Amazon’s operations. The group develops technology such as forward-looking algorithms that anticipate which items will be in high demand during a certain time period, as well as how to distribute these items geographically. The goal is to get products to customers as quickly and efficiently as possible.

A worker collects orders at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Rugeley, central England in 2012.REUTERS/Phil Noble

Amazon is also starting a new autonomous robot program in its worldwide operations group. While this may raise speculative eyebrows, it’s the least surprising of all three job openings. Amazon is known for using robotics in its warehouses, and even runs a separate website for its Amazon Robotics program — known as Kiva Systems until its acquisition by Amazon for $775 million in 2012.

While mysterious job openings shed some light on what the $479 billion company has in the works, it’s not rare for Amazon to launch new services.

In Q2 earnings, CEO Jeff Bezos said that that company hired 30,000 new employees and launched over 400 significant AWS features and services over the quarter.

Amazon employees 382,400 people, according to its Q2 earnings. That’s a 42% increase from the year before.

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment.

Visit Markets Insider for constantly updated market quotes for individual stocks, ETFs, indices, commodities and currencies traded around the world. Go Now!