AmazonPrincipal Applied Scientist, Music Catalog and Search, Amazon Music Search and Catalog
Amazon is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist, Music Catalog and Search, Amazon Music Search and Catalog in San Francisco, 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.
- The listed pay starts 37% above the typical applied scientist posting on Level.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include applied science, foundation models and machine learning.
- Level classifies it as a lead role.
- Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.
AI in this role
Drive the applied science roadmap utilizing foundation models to enhance large-scale music catalog search and discovery systems.
As a Principal Applied Scientist, you'll drive innovation in music content understanding, leveraging foundational models to enrich catalog data intelligence and create breakthrough customer experiences. Your work will span across music catalog, search, and data systems teams, where success is measured by customer satisfaction, partner team success, and music labels' ability to share high-quality content seamlessly.
Key job responsibilities
- Lead the design and implementation of applied science solutions for large-scale music catalog systems, leveraging foundational models to enhance content intelligence and understanding
- Define and execute the technical roadmap for Amazon Music catalog and search teams, driving architectural decisions across multiple systems and ensuring alignment with long-term business objectives
- Design, propose, and collaborate on experiments that leverage rich music content for enhanced customer experiences in search, personalization, and recommendation systems
- Drive technical excellence across three teams (music catalog, music search, music data systems) by conducting design reviews, setting engineering standards, and mentoring senior technical talent
- Solve complex problems at the intersection of content systems and applied science, proactively identifying risks and implementing solutions that balance short-term deliverables with long-term architectural maintainability
About the team
The Amazon Music Catalog and Search team is responsible to help our customers discover the most relevant audio content including music, podcasts and audiobooks. The team invents technology at the intersection of the largest audio catalog in the world, applying latest advances in foundation models and proprietary data assets of Amazon Music. We build technology and products that is deployed worldwide but at the same time is customizable for local markets. We measure our success by the success of our customers, partners and audio content creators.
Basic qualifications
- PhD, or Master's degree and 10+ years of applied research experience
- Experience working in content understanding systems in digital media
- Experience building applied science solutions on top of foundational models
Preferred qualifications
- Experience in large knowledge graphs
- Experience with large scale distributed data systems
- Experience in search retrieval and ranking
- Experience in designing and evaluating online experiments
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.
Pursuant to the San Francisco 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, San Francisco - 228,700.00 - 309,400.00 USD annually
USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 228,700.00 - 309,400.00 USD annually
How we rate this
Principal Applied Scientist, Music Catalog and Search, Amazon Music Search and Catalog at Amazon rates 90 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. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
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
- $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
- Tell me about a project where applied science 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?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where recommendation systems was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where search was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Applied Science, Foundation Models, Machine learning, Recommendation Systems, and Search. 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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