Applied Scientist II, PXT

Do you want to leverage your expertise in translating innovative science into impactful products to improve the lives and work of over a million people worldwide? If so, People eXperience Technology Core Science team would love to discuss how you can make that a reality. Our team is an interdisciplinary team that uses economics, behavioral science, statistics, and machine learning to identify products, mechanisms, and process improvements that enhance Amazonians' well-being and their ability to deliver value for Amazon's customers. We collaborate with HR teams across Amazon to make Amazon PXT the most scientific human resources organization in the world.

In this role, you will spearhead science design and technical implementation innovations across our predictive modeling and forecasting work-streams. You'll enhance existing models and create new ones, empowering leaders throughout Amazon to make data-driven business decisions. You'll collaborate with scientists and engineers to deliver solutions while working closely with business stakeholders to address their specific needs.

Your work will span various business domains (corporate, operations, safety) and analysis levels (individual, group, organizational), utilizing a range of modeling approaches (linear, tree-based, deep neural networks, and LLM-based). You'll develop end-to-end ML solutions from problem formulation to deployment, maintaining high scientific standards and technical excellence throughout the process.

As an Applied Scientist, you'll also contribute to the team's science strategy, keeping pace with emerging AI/ML trends. You'll mentor junior scientists, fostering their growth by identifying high-impact opportunities. Your guidance will span different analysis levels and modeling approaches, enabling stakeholders to make informed, strategic decisions.

If you excel at building advanced scientific solutions and are passionate about developing technologies that drive organizational change in the AI era, join us as we work hard, have fun, and make history.

Key job responsibilities
• Model Development & Innovation: Design and implement novel GenAI/LLM solutions using foundation models (e.g., Claude, GPT) and AWS services including Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, and other AWS AI/ML tools
• Research & Experimentation: Conduct applied research to advance the state-of-the-art in LLM applications, including prompt engineering, few-shot learning, fine-tuning, and model evaluation
• Production Deployment: Build scalable, production-ready AI systems that serve millions of requests with high reliability, low latency, and cost efficiency
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product managers, engineers, and business stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions and drive measurable impact
• Technical Leadership: Mentor junior scientists, contribute to technical strategy, and establish best practices for GenAI development across the organization
• Evaluation & Metrics: Design rigorous evaluation frameworks to measure model performance, bias, safety, and business impact
• Documentation & Communication: Publish technical papers, create detailed documentation, and present findings to both technical and non-technical audiences

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. We are building a talent intelligence layer — fusing natural language understanding, network science, and large-scale predictive modeling into a unified platform that continuously learns from how people work, collaborate, and grow across one of the world's largest and most complex workforces.

Basic Qualifications

- 3+ years of building models for business application experience
- PhD, or Master's degree and 4+ years of CS, CE, ML or related field experience
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Experience in any of the following areas: algorithms and data structures, parsing, numerical optimization, data mining, parallel and distributed computing, high-performance computing

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience using Unix/Linux
- Experience in professional software development

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, NY, New York - 172,400.00 - 223,400.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually