Principal Applied Scientist, AWS Agentic AI

Amazon is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist, AWS Agentic AI in New York, United States. It pays $229k-$309k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this applied scientist role: the job is building AI systems.
Pay on this posting starts 37% higher than the typical applied scientist posting on Level.
The posting mentions Python, PyTorch and RAG among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a lead role.
Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Lead research and development for AWS Agentic AI, building and scaling multi-modal foundation models and enterprise AI agents.

PythonPyTorch

ragfine-tuningcomputer-visionnlpai-safetygenerative-aimachine-learningagentic-ailarge-language-models

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking for a Principal Applied Scientist to join the Quick Science team. Quick is AWS’s enterprise generative AI assistant that helps users answer questions, summarize documents, generate content, take actions, and automate workflows using information across enterprise systems. As a key member of this team, you will lead research and development efforts in generative AI and Agentic AI to enable intelligent agents that perform complex reasoning, automate multi-step workflows, and make enterprise users significantly more productive.

Key job responsibilities
You’ll work on building and optimizing multi-modal foundation models, training and fine-tuning state-of-the-art LLMs, and architecting systems that scale efficiently across domains. This role blends science leadership, hands-on innovation, and deep collaboration with engineering teams to bring research into production.

Basic qualifications

- PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field OR a Master’s degree with 5+ years of relevant industry or research experience.
- Industry experience developing machine learning models for real-world applications.
- Experience with generative AI, including model training or building systems with pre-trained foundation models.
- Proven record of peer-reviewed publications or granted patents in AI/ML.
- Proficiency in Python or similar programming languages.
- Experience in at least one of the following areas: natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), computer vision, or Agentic AI.

Preferred qualifications

- Experience applying generative AI to enterprise or multi-modal tasks (e.g., code generation, document understanding, or task planning).
- Strong understanding of agentic architectures, autonomous systems, or task orchestration.
- Hands-on experience with scalable ML infrastructure, distributed training, or optimization of large models.
- Deep knowledge of AI safety, hallucination mitigation, or retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
- Experience mentoring junior scientists and influencing cross-functional stakeholders.
- Ability to think strategically and communicate complex technical topics to non-experts, including senior leadership.
- Track record of shipping scientific innovations into customer-facing products at scale.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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, CA, Santa Clara - 228,700.00 - 309,400.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 218,800.00 - 295,900.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Principal Applied Scientist, AWS Agentic AI at Amazon rates 100 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

Principal Applied Scientist, AWS Agentic AI is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $229k-$309k a year.
The role is based in US, NY, New York.
The job was posted on June 5, 2026.
Seniority: lead.
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

RAGFine-tuningComputer visionNLPAI SafetyGenerative AIMachine learningAgentic AI

Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level

C++Java Deep learning Reinforcement learning TensorFlow Spark

Pay

This job starts at: $229k
Typical applied scientist job: $167k

This posting starts 37% above the typical applied scientist job. See applied scientist jobs

Questions you could be asked

How would you design a retrieval step so the model answers from real data instead of guessing?
Walk me through fine-tuning a model: what data did you use, and how did you check the result?
Walk me through a computer vision problem you solved, from raw data to a deployed model.
What NLP problem have you worked on, and how did you measure whether it actually worked?
How do you think about the risk of an AI system in this kind of role failing silently?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: RAG, Fine-tuning, Computer vision, NLP, and AI Safety. 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.

Get your CV reviewed before you apply

Send your CV and the role you want next. Your review arrives by email within 3 days.

Get a free CV review Check your resume with the ATS resume checker