Amazon is seeking an Applied Scientist II to join our team and drive innovation in Generative AI and Large Language Model (LLM) applications. In this role, you will design, develop, and deploy AI solutions that directly impact millions of customers and transform how Amazon operates at scale. You'll work with state-of-the-art technologies including foundation models, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and fine-tuning techniques to solve complex business problems.
Key job responsibilities • Model Development & Innovation: Design and implement novel GenAI/LLM solutions using foundation models (e.g., Claude, GPT, LLaMA) 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
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 in patents or publications at top-tier peer-reviewed conferences or journals
- 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
- PhD in computer science, machine learning, engineering, or related fields
- 2+ years of hands-on experience with foundation models and LLM applications (prompt engineering, RAG, fine-tuning, RLHF, Transformer models, and AI Agents)
- Experience with AWS AI/ML services (Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, Lambda, etc.)
- Publications in top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, EMNLP, ICLR, COLM, etc.)
- Experience with model optimization techniques (quantization, distillation, efficient inference)
- Knowledge of responsible AI practices including bias detection, fairness, and safety evaluation
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, WA, SEATTLE - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually USA, WA, Seattle - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually