Applied Scientist II

Every year, Amazon's operations depend on hiring hundreds of thousands of hourly associates across the globe, and your work will determine how efficiently and effectively that happens. We are looking for a curious, resourceful Applied Scientist to tackle multi-objective optimization problems worldwide. In this role, you will build mathematical models and AI/ML systems that optimize recruitment processes under real-world cost, capacity, and regulatory constraints across North America and beyond. This is a particularly exciting time to join because we are expanding into new countries, building AI-native capabilities, and beginning to externalize our solutions so that teams beyond our own can benefit from the tools we create. You will partner with economists, machine learning engineers, and analytics engineers to turn theory-based decision models into production systems that improve candidate experience and business outcomes at a scale few teams can offer.

Key job responsibilities
- Design and implement optimization algorithms and mathematical models that determine optimal job posting timing, candidate management strategies, and recruitment coordination across multiple countries and markets.
- Develop and maintain conversion models, demand forecasting systems, and multi-objective optimization frameworks using machine learning, survival analysis, and causal inference techniques.
- Plan and run controlled experiments to validate new recruitment mechanisms, measure their impact, and iterate on model performance using real-world data.
- Write production-quality code in Python, applying optimal data structures and algorithms while making practical tradeoffs between complexity, memory efficiency, and maintainability.
- Collaborate with generation, hiring event, and coordination teams to integrate your models into automated hiring pipelines, and contribute to the team's scientific agenda through peer reviews, mentorship, and publications.

A day in the life
You might start your morning reviewing model performance dashboards and conversion metrics, then refine a stochastic dynamic programming model that balances hiring demand against cost constraints for an upcoming peak period. After lunch, you could be designing an A/B test for a new candidate management strategy or pairing with another scientist to incorporate local market regulations into an optimization framework. You will regularly present findings in science reviews and help shape the team's research roadmap.

About the team
Our team sits within Amazon's operations organization and owns the science behind converting job applicants into hired associates at a global scale. We support leadership teams across North America and beyond, building the optimization and ML systems that keep fulfillment centers staffed and ready to serve customers. Right now we are investing in AI-native automation, expanding our models to additional countries, and making our tools available to partner teams across the organization. The team is a multidisciplinary group of scientists, economists, machine learning engineers, and analytics engineers who collaborate closely to solve problems that span economic theory, statistical modeling, and large-scale engineering. We value rigorous experimentation, collaborative problem-solving, and a shared commitment to improving both business outcomes and the candidate experience.

Basic qualifications

- 3+ years of building models for business application experience
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Experience building machine learning models or developing algorithms for business application
- Experience in designing experiments and statistical analysis of results
- Experience in solving business problems through machine learning, data mining and statistical algorithms
- Experience in state-of-the-art deep learning models architecture design and deep learning training and optimization and model pruning

Preferred qualifications

- Experience in professional software development
- Master's degree or above in econometrics, statistics, industrial engineering, operations research, optimization, data mining, analytics, or equivalent quantitative field
- Experience applying theoretical models in an applied environment

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, VA, Arlington - 142,800.00 - 193,200.00 USD annually