Senior Applied Scientist, Foundation Model

AI in this role

tensorflowscikit-learn

fine-tuningai-evaluationcomputer-vision

Amazon is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building revolutionary robotic systems that combine innovative AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced mechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments. This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction. This role presents an opportunity to shape the future of robotics through innovative applications of deep learning and large language models.

We leverage advanced robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to solve complex operational challenges at unprecedented scale. Our fleet of robots operates across hundreds of facilities worldwide, working in sophisticated coordination to fulfill our mission of customer excellence.
We are pioneering the development of robotics foundation models that:
- Enable unprecedented generalization across diverse tasks
- Integrate multi-modal learning capabilities (visual, tactile, linguistic)
- Accelerate skill acquisition through demonstration learning
- Enhance robotic perception and environmental understanding
- Streamline development processes through reusable capabilities

The ideal candidate will contribute to research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancement and practical implementation in robotics. You will be part of a team that's revolutionizing how robots learn, adapt, and interact with their environment.

Join us in building the next generation of intelligent robotics systems that will transform the future of automation and human-robot collaboration.

As a Senior Applied Scientist, you will develop and improve machine learning systems that help robots perceive, reason, and act in real-world environments. You will leverage state-of-the-art models (open source and internal research), evaluate them on representative tasks, and adapt/optimize them to meet robustness, safety, and performance needs. You will invent new algorithms where gaps exist. You’ll collaborate closely with research, controls, hardware, and product-facing teams, and your outputs will be used by downstream teams to further customize and deploy on specific robot embodiments.

Key job responsibilities
As a Senior Applied Scientist in the Foundations Model team, you will:
- Leverage state-of-the-art models for targeted tasks, environments, and robot embodiments through fine-tuning and optimization.
- Execute rapid, rigorous experimentation with reproducible results and solid engineering practices, closing the gap between sim and real environments.
- Build and run capability evaluations/benchmarks to clearly profile performance, generalization, and failure modes.
- Contribute to the data and training workflow: collection/curation, dataset quality/provenance, and repeatable training recipes.
- Write clean, maintainable, well commented and documented code, contribute to training infrastructure, create tools for model evaluation and testing, and implement necessary APIs
- Stay current with latest developments in foundation models and robotics, assist in literature reviews and research documentation, prepare technical reports and presentations, and contribute to research discussions and brainstorming sessions.
- Work closely with senior scientists, engineers, and leaders across multiple teams, participate in knowledge sharing, support integration efforts with robotics hardware teams, and help document best practices and methodologies.

Basic qualifications

- 3+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
- PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- 2+ years hands-on experience in deep learning with strength in at least one: computer vision, multimodal models, imitation learning / RL for robotics, or human-robot interaction
- Ability to design rigorous experiments, analyze results, and iterate quickly with reproducible baselines
- Demonstrated technical contributions (e.g., publications, patents, open-source, or impactful internal systems)

Preferred qualifications

- Experience with modeling tools such as R, scikit-learn, Spark MLLib, MxNet, Tensorflow, numpy, scipy etc.
- Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark etc.

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 - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually
USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Senior Applied Scientist, Foundation Model at Amazon rates 94 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. Open the description and count.

Key facts

Senior Applied Scientist, Foundation Model is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $192k-$260k a year.
The role is based in US, CA, San Francisco.
The job was posted on July 14, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Fine TuningAI EvaluationComputer VisionTensorFlowscikit-learn

Questions you could be asked

Walk me through fine-tuning a model: what data did you use, and how did you check the result?
How do you decide that one model's output is better than another's for a given task?
Walk me through a computer vision problem you solved, from raw data to a deployed model.
What's a project where you used TensorFlow hands-on?
Walk me through how you've used scikit-learn in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Fine Tuning, AI Evaluation, Computer Vision, TensorFlow, and scikit-learn. 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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