Principal Applied Scientist, Prime Video Personalization & Discovery

Amazon is hiring a Principal Applied Scientist, Prime Video Personalization & Discovery in Sunnyvale, 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 35% above the typical applied scientist posting on Level.
Tools and skills the posting cites include PyTorch and TensorFlow.
Level classifies it as a lead role.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

PyTorchTensorFlow

Are you interested in shaping the future of entertainment through cutting-edge AI? Prime Video’s technology teams are redefining the digital video experience at scale.

As a Principal Applied Scientist at Prime Video, you will be a technical and strategic leader responsible for inventing, developing, and deploying groundbreaking AI solutions that power personalized, relevant, and delightful experiences for millions of global customers. You will help shape the vision and direction of key ML systems that support Prime Video’s mission to deliver AI-powered customer experiences.

This role demands a unique blend of deep technical expertise in machine learning and recommendation systems, industry leadership, and strong collaboration skills. You will guide the development of high-impact systems end-to-end - leading innovation from foundational research through production deployment - while mentoring scientists and influencing product and engineering roadmaps.

We are looking for a thought leader who brings a strong track record of delivering ML innovations at scale, along with the curiosity and drive to push boundaries. This is a rare opportunity to drive meaningful impact at one of the largest streaming services in the world.

Key job responsibilities
- Invent, prototype, and productionize large-scale AI solutions across Prime Video’s personalization and discovery ecosystem using deep learning, generative AI, reinforcement learning, and optimization techniques;
- Provide technical leadership and influence product vision by collaborating closely with engineers, product managers, and senior stakeholders;
- Design and lead high-impact A/B tests and data analyses to validate hypotheses and guide product direction;
- Drive technical bar-raising across science and engineering teams through mentorship, design reviews, and collaboration;
- Stay ahead of industry trends and emerging research; leverage them to evolve long-term strategy and architecture;
- Publish impactful research internally and externally (e.g. top-tier conferences and journals).

About the team
Prime Video Personalization and Discovery (PVPD) is dedicated to creating a highly personalized content discovery experience that not only delights our customers but also drives both short-and long-term business goals. Our scope includes personalized recommendations, search, marketing, and the advanced machine learning technology and infrastructure that underpins these experiences. Our mission is to automate and enhance customer engagement through personalization, using ML and Generative AI.

Basic qualifications

- PhD (or Master’s with 10+ years of applied experience) in machine learning, computer science, statistics, or a related field
- 8+ years experience designing, building, and deploying ML models for real-world business applications at scale
- Proven leadership in driving cross-functional ML/AI initiatives from ideation through production
- in Python, Java, or C++, and experience with ML frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch)
- Deep expertise in recommendation systems, search relevance, or large-scale personalization systems

Preferred qualifications

- Strong publication record in top-tier conferences (e.g. NeurIPS, ICML, KDD, RecSys, SIGIR)
- Experience with large-scale distributed systems (e.g. Hadoop, Spark)
- Demonstrated ability to influence technical roadmaps and mentor other scientists and engineers
- Experience defining and delivering strategic AI vision for consumer-facing products

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, Sunnyvale - 228,700.00 - 309,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Principal Applied Scientist, Prime Video Personalization & Discovery at Amazon rates 89 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, Prime Video Personalization & Discovery 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, CA, Sunnyvale.
The job was posted on April 13, 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

PyTorchTensorFlow

Also common in applied scientist jobs at this level

LLM NLP AWS Computer vision scikit-learn Fine-tuning

Pay

This job starts at: $229k
Typical applied scientist job: $169k

This posting starts 35% above the typical applied scientist job. See applied scientist jobs

Questions you could be asked

What's a project where you used PyTorch hands-on?
Walk me through how you've used TensorFlow in your day-to-day work.
How would you decide a model or AI system is ready to ship?
Tell me about a time a model underperformed in production. How did you find out, and what did you change?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: PyTorch and TensorFlow. 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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