AmazonPrincipal Applied Scientist, Foundation AI Assets (FAI)
Amazon is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist, Foundation AI Assets (FAI) in Boston, United States. It pays $199k-$269k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Level.
AI in this role
Lead applied research and development for foundational generative AI models and software development skills.
As a Principal Applied Scientist, you are a trusted part of the technical leadership. You bring business and industry context to science and technology decisions. You set the standard for scientific excellence and make decisions that affect the way we build and integrate algorithms. You solicit differing views across the organization and are willing to change your mind as you learn more. Your artifacts are exemplary and often used as reference across organization.
You are a hands-on scientific leader. Your solutions are exemplary in terms of algorithm design, clarity, model structure, efficiency, and extensibility. You tackle intrinsically hard problems, acquiring expertise as needed. You decompose complex problems into straightforward solutions.
You amplify your impact by leading scientific reviews within your organization or at your location. You scrutinize and review experimental design, modeling, verification, and other research procedures. You probe assumptions, illuminate pitfalls, and foster shared understanding. You align teams toward coherent strategies. You educate, keeping the scientific community up to date on advanced techniques, state of the art approaches, the latest technologies, and trends. You help managers guide the career growth of other scientists by mentoring and playing a significant role in hiring and developing scientists and leads.
Key job responsibilities
You will be responsible for defining key research directions, adopting or inventing new machine learning techniques, conducting rigorous experiments, publishing results, and ensuring that research is translated into practice. You will develop frontier quality assets for training and evaluating GenAI models. You will also participate in organizational planning, hiring, mentorship, and leadership development. You will be technically strong and with a passion for building scalable science and engineering solutions. You will serve as a key scientific resource in full-cycle development (conception, design, implementation, and testing to documentation, delivery, and maintenance).
About the team
The FAI team has the mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
Our team is focused on pushing the boundaries of applied science at Amazon, building solutions that operate at massive scale and directly shape customer experiences. We value scientific depth, collaborative problem-solving, and a commitment to turning research into measurable impact.
We are investing in the next wave of scientific capabilities and are looking for a Principal Applied Scientist to help define that trajectory. You will work alongside talented scientists, engineers, and product partners in an environment that encourages intellectual curiosity and rewards bold ideas.
Basic qualifications
- 5+ years of hands-on work in predictive modeling and analysis experience
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related technical field
- Experience working in predictive modeling and analysis
- Experience distilling informal customer requirements into problem definitions, dealing with ambiguity and competing objectives
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Experience with leading experienced scientists as well as having a record of developing junior members from academia or industry to a career track in a business environment
Preferred qualifications
- 10+ years of relevant work in industry or academia experience
- Knowledge of problem solving, algorithm design and complexity analysis
- Experience creating novel algorithms and advancing the state of the art
- Have peer-reviewed scientific contributions in premier journals and conferences
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, MA, Boston - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
How we rate this
Principal Applied Scientist, Foundation AI Assets (FAI) 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.
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. Open the description and count.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level
Pay
- This job starts at
- $199k
- Typical applied scientist job
- $167k
This posting starts 19% above the typical applied scientist job. See applied scientist jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where deep learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where generative ai was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where llms was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where research was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Deep learning, Generative AI, Machine learning, LLMs, and Research. 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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