Applied Scientist -- Foundation Models, SSO

Amazon is hiring an Applied Scientist -- Foundation Models, SSO in Houston, United States. It pays $143k-$193k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this applied scientist role is Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
The posting mentions PyTorch, JAX and CUDA among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Design, train, and optimize foundation models for long-horizon agentic workloads while combining model development with systems and hardware optimization.

PyTorchJAXCUDATritonAWS TrainiumAWS Inferentia

fine-tuningmachine-learningdeep-learningtransformersfoundation-modelsdistributed-traininghardware-optimization

We are looking for an AI/ML Engineer to build efficient, stable foundation models for long-horizon agentic workloads. The role combines model development with systems and hardware optimization.

Qualifications
Strong background in machine learning, deep learning, transformers, and foundation models.
Experience with PyTorch, JAX, or similar frameworks.
Experience training, fine-tuning, or serving large-scale models.
Knowledge of GPU architecture, CUDA, Triton, custom kernels, or hardware-aware optimization.
Familiarity with distributed training and model parallelism.
Experience with AWS Trainium, Inferentia, Neuron SDK, TPUs, or other custom accelerators is preferred.
PhD in machine learning, computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field is preferred.

Key job responsibilities
Responsibilities
Design, train, fine-tune, and evaluate custom foundation models.
Improve model efficiency, stability, latency, throughput, and memory usage.
Build models that support planning, tool use, memory, self-correction, and multi-step task execution.
Optimize training and inference using CUDA, Triton, custom GPU kernels, and tensor operations.
Profile and resolve compute, memory, communication, and distributed-training bottlenecks.
Work with GPUs and specialized AI accelerators, including AWS Trainium and other custom tensor hardware.
Develop evaluations for model reliability and long-horizon agent performance.

About the team
Diverse Experiences
AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

Mentorship & Career Growth
We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance
We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Basic qualifications

- 3+ years of building models for business application experience
- PhD, or Master's degree and 4+ years of CS, CE, ML or related field experience
- Experience in patents or publications at top-tier peer-reviewed conferences or journals
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Experience in any of the following areas: algorithms and data structures, parsing, numerical optimization, data mining, parallel and distributed computing, high-performance computing

Preferred qualifications

- Experience using Unix/Linux
- Experience in professional software development

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, TX, Houston - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Applied Scientist -- Foundation Models, SSO at Amazon rates 95 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Applied Scientist -- Foundation Models, SSO is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $143k-$193k a year.
The role is based in US, TX, Houston.
The job was posted on August 17, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Fine-tuningMachine learningDeep learningTransformersFoundation ModelsDistributed TrainingHardware OptimizationPyTorch

Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level

LLM Generative AI NLP Reinforcement learning TensorFlow Spark

Pay

This job starts at: $143k
Typical applied scientist job: $167k

This posting starts 15% below the typical applied scientist job. See applied scientist jobs

Questions you could be asked

Walk me through fine-tuning a model: what data did you use, and how did you check the result?
Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where deep learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where transformers was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where foundation models was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Fine-tuning, Machine learning, Deep learning, Transformers, and Foundation Models. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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