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Principal Applied Scientist, PXT
Amazon
H1B ✓On-sitesenior levelPosted April 23, 2026
About the Role
The Principal Applied Scientist will lead the science strategy and technical vision for the PXT intelligence layer, overseeing research in GenAI and predictive modeling. They will personally own the development of complex ML solutions while mentoring senior scientists and influencing long-term platform architecture.
Requirements
Candidates must possess a PhD or a Master's degree with at least 6 years of applied research experience, including 5+ years in industry or academia. Expertise in deep learning, model development, and a track record of leading technical projects and mentoring junior staff are required.
Full Job Description
About the Role
In this role, you will own the science strategy and technical vision for this intelligence layer, leading a team of applied scientists working across GenAI and predictive modeling. You will shape how heterogeneous signals — text, behavioral, network, temporal — come together to power talent applications at Amazon scale, from workforce forecasting to personalized development to compensation strategy. You will identify opportunities where science investment can have material impact on long-term objectives or annual goals and build consensus around needed investments, working comfortably across different modeling paradigms and data modalities to guide principal and senior scientists in their most challenging and strategic decisions while serving as the strategic science advisor to PXT leaders operating at the Director, VP, and SVP levels. As a hands-on leader, you will personally own development and delivery of the most complex science problems at the intersection of multiple ML disciplines, stay current with emergent AI/ML science and engineering trends to influence focus areas in a rapidly evolving landscape, and participate in organizational planning, hiring, mentorship, and leadership development.
Key job responsibilities
• Lead technical initiatives in people science models, driving breakthrough approaches through hands-on research and development in areas like foundation models for predictive modeling, efficient multi-modal LLMs, and zero-shot learning
• Design and implement novel ML architectures that push the boundaries of how workforce signals are represented, fused, and predicted at scale
• Guide technical direction for research initiatives across the team, ensuring robust performance in production environments serving hundreds of thousands of employees
• Mentor and develop senior scientists while maintaining strong individual technical contributions on the most complex cross-domain problems
• Collaborate with engineering teams to optimize and scale models for real-world talent applications
• Influence technical decisions and implementation strategies across teams, shaping the long-term platform architecture
About the team
The People eXperience and Technology (PXT) Core Science Team uses science, engineering, and customer-obsessed problem solving to proactively identify mechanisms, process improvements, and products that simultaneously improve Amazon and Amazonians' lives, wellbeing, and value of work. As an interdisciplinary team combining talents from machine learning, statistics, economics, behavioral science, engineering, and product development, the Core Science team develops and delivers measurable solutions through innovation and rapid prototyping to accelerate informed, accurate, and reliable decision-making backed by science and data. Basic Qualifications: • PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• 5+ years of industry or academic research experience
• Experience programming in Python or related language
• 5+ years of building machine learning models or developing algorithms for business application experience
• Experience in patents or publications at top-tier conferences
• Extensive track record of leading technical projects
• Experience mentoring junior scientists and engineers
• Demonstrated expertise in deep learning and model development
Preferred Qualifications: • A track record of influencing software shipped at scale using your science expertise
• Experience working with real-world complex data sets and building models at Amazon 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.
USA, CA, Santa Clara - 228,700.00 - 309,400.00 USD annually
USA, IL, Chicago - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 218,800.00 - 295,900.00 USD annually
USA, TX, Austin - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Arlington - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
In this role, you will own the science strategy and technical vision for this intelligence layer, leading a team of applied scientists working across GenAI and predictive modeling. You will shape how heterogeneous signals — text, behavioral, network, temporal — come together to power talent applications at Amazon scale, from workforce forecasting to personalized development to compensation strategy. You will identify opportunities where science investment can have material impact on long-term objectives or annual goals and build consensus around needed investments, working comfortably across different modeling paradigms and data modalities to guide principal and senior scientists in their most challenging and strategic decisions while serving as the strategic science advisor to PXT leaders operating at the Director, VP, and SVP levels. As a hands-on leader, you will personally own development and delivery of the most complex science problems at the intersection of multiple ML disciplines, stay current with emergent AI/ML science and engineering trends to influence focus areas in a rapidly evolving landscape, and participate in organizational planning, hiring, mentorship, and leadership development.
Key job responsibilities
• Lead technical initiatives in people science models, driving breakthrough approaches through hands-on research and development in areas like foundation models for predictive modeling, efficient multi-modal LLMs, and zero-shot learning
• Design and implement novel ML architectures that push the boundaries of how workforce signals are represented, fused, and predicted at scale
• Guide technical direction for research initiatives across the team, ensuring robust performance in production environments serving hundreds of thousands of employees
• Mentor and develop senior scientists while maintaining strong individual technical contributions on the most complex cross-domain problems
• Collaborate with engineering teams to optimize and scale models for real-world talent applications
• Influence technical decisions and implementation strategies across teams, shaping the long-term platform architecture
About the team
The People eXperience and Technology (PXT) Core Science Team uses science, engineering, and customer-obsessed problem solving to proactively identify mechanisms, process improvements, and products that simultaneously improve Amazon and Amazonians' lives, wellbeing, and value of work. As an interdisciplinary team combining talents from machine learning, statistics, economics, behavioral science, engineering, and product development, the Core Science team develops and delivers measurable solutions through innovation and rapid prototyping to accelerate informed, accurate, and reliable decision-making backed by science and data. Basic Qualifications: • PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
• 5+ years of industry or academic research experience
• Experience programming in Python or related language
• 5+ years of building machine learning models or developing algorithms for business application experience
• Experience in patents or publications at top-tier conferences
• Extensive track record of leading technical projects
• Experience mentoring junior scientists and engineers
• Demonstrated expertise in deep learning and model development
Preferred Qualifications: • A track record of influencing software shipped at scale using your science expertise
• Experience working with real-world complex data sets and building models at Amazon 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, IL, Chicago - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 218,800.00 - 295,900.00 USD annually
USA, TX, Austin - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Arlington - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 198,900.00 - 269,000.00 USD annually