Senior Applied Scientist, Amazon Advertising

About the Role Amazon Advertising is at the forefront of revolutionizing the advertising industry with advanced generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. We blend human creativity with AI to enhance every stage of the advertising process—from crafting ads and optimizing their performance to analyzing results and gathering customer insights. Our innovative solutions empower advertisers to expand their brands while providing millions of customers with engaging experiences to discover and purchase products. Each day, we generate billions of ad impressions and millions of clicks, driving fresh innovations in product and technology. If you are excited by the prospect of tackling complex challenges and pushing the limits of AI, we welcome you to join us in redefining the future of advertising. Why This Opportunity Stands Out This position offers a unique opportunity to explore a wide array of machine learning (ML) applications and access vast computational resources and rich datasets for creating groundbreaking solutions. You will engage in projects covering the complete advertising lifecycle, including advanced ranking algorithms, real-time bidding systems, creative optimization, and performance measurement. You will be collaborating with a talented group of engineers, scientists, and product leaders in an environment that fosters innovation, experimentation, and proactive problem-solving. Your scientific knowledge will play a crucial role in directly influencing our business strategies. This role uniquely merges rigorous scientific methodology with tangible real-world outcomes, allowing you to transform advertising through sophisticated ML solutions while addressing the diverse needs of advertisers, customers, and Amazon’s business objectives. Your Career Path and Influence Amazon Advertising is committed to investing in AI and ML capabilities, creating avenues for scientists to innovate and leave their mark. Your contributions will reach millions of users. Whether you envision advancing as an individual contributor or transitioning into management, clear pathways exist for your career growth. This role integrates scientific leadership, organizational skills, technical expertise, and business acumen. You will have the chance to spearhead technical initiatives, mentor fellow scientists, and work with senior leadership to forge the future of advertising technology. Most importantly, you’ll become part of a community that values scientific excellence and encourages exploration of the possibilities within AI. Key Responsibilities Investigate and implement state-of-the-art ML methodologies, including generative AI and large language models. Design and deploy innovative ML solutions across multiple domains—ranging from ranking and personalization to natural language processing, computer vision, recommender systems, and large language models. Lead end-to-end projects that resolve complex problems on a large scale, often involving petabytes of data. Develop models that meet the needs of various stakeholders, helping customers discover relevant products while allowing advertisers to achieve their objectives effectively. Create ML models, conduct proof-of-concept experiments, optimize performance, and deploy your models into production, closely collaborating with cross-functional teams, including engineers, product managers, and fellow scientists. Design and execute A/B tests to validate assumptions, extract insights from extensive data analyses, and assess business impact. Establish scalable and efficient processes for model development, validation, and deployment that optimize revenue while enhancing customer experiences. Qualifications Minimum of 5 years of experience building machine learning models for business applications. PhD or Master's degree with at least 6 years of practical research experience. Proficiency in programming with languages such as Java, C++, or Python. Experience with deep learning methodologies and machine learning techniques. Preferred Qualifications Familiarity with modeling tools like R, scikit-learn, Spark MLLib, MxNet, TensorFlow, numpy, and scipy. Experience with large-scale distributed systems like Hadoop and Spark. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. Job duties for this position include: working safely and collaboratively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; maintaining excellence in performance even under pressure; communicating effectively with various stakeholders to ensure top-tier customer service; and adhering to all local, state, and federal laws as well as company policies. The base salary range for this position is as follows: Colorado $167,100 - $226,100 annually; National $150,400 - $260,000 annually. Compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon offers extensive benefits, including health insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave.