Want to get hired at Amazon Web Services (AWS)?

Principal Applied Scientist

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Santa Clara, CAOn Site

Original Job Summary

Job Description

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is seeking a Principal Applied Scientist for the Amazon Q team. In this role, you will lead research and development in generative AI and Agentic AI to build intelligent agents for complex reasoning, multi-step workflow automation, and enhanced productivity for enterprise users.

Key Responsibilities

  • Design and develop foundational models and intelligent agent architectures.
  • Partner with engineering, product, and UX teams to integrate generative AI.
  • Drive experiments improving model accuracy, safety, latency, and cost-efficiency.
  • Mentor scientists and engineers to elevate technical expertise.
  • Publish research or file patents on novel AI/ML contributions.

About the Team

The Amazon Q team builds a generative AI-powered assistant that assists employees by answering questions, summarizing data, generating content, and automating workflows using enterprise data. This role is part of AWS’s broader Agentic AI initiative.

Basic Qualifications

  • PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or related field OR Master's with 5+ years experience.
  • Industry experience in developing machine learning models for practical applications.
  • Experience with generative AI and building systems with foundation models.
  • Proficiency in Python or similar programming languages.
  • Expertise in NLP, LLMs, computer vision, or Agentic AI.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Application of generative AI in enterprise or multi-modal tasks.
  • Understanding of agentic architectures and autonomous systems.
  • Experience with scalable ML infrastructure and distributed training.
  • Knowledge of AI safety and retrieval-augmented generation techniques.
  • Proven leadership, strategic thinking, and mentoring abilities.

Key skills/competency

  • Generative AI
  • Agentic AI
  • Machine Learning
  • LLMs
  • Python
  • Research
  • Enterprise Systems
  • Scaling
  • Mentorship
  • Innovation

How to Get Hired at Amazon Web Services (AWS)

🎯 Tips for Getting Hired

  • Customize your resume: Highlight AI research and publication achievements.
  • Tailor your cover letter: Emphasize experience with generative or agentic AI.
  • Prepare examples: Discuss scalable ML projects and team mentorship.
  • Research AWS culture: Understand their mission and innovation focus.

📝 Interview Preparation Advice

Technical Preparation

Review generative AI model fundamentals.
Practice Python coding challenges.
Study scalable ML infrastructure basics.
Learn LLM fine-tuning techniques.

Behavioral Questions

Describe a challenge with team collaboration.
Explain your mentorship approach.
Discuss handling high-pressure deadlines.
Share experience with cross-functional projects.