Sr. Applied Scientist, Frontier AI Assets
Company websiteamazon.com (Amazon, opens in new tab)
Base salary $192,200 to $260,000
Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in Sunnyvale, CA
You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.
- LocationSunnyvale, CA
- WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
- Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
- Last checked (1 h ago) · observed since
About this job
The Foundational AI (FAI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Applied Scientist with a strong deep learning background, to build industry-leading Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technology with Large Language Models (LLMs).
Key job responsibilities
As an Applied Scientist with the FAI team, you will support the development of RL Gyms, assess their usefulness for the frontier model advancement and build techniques to advance the state of the art with LLMs. You will support the foundational model development in an applied research role. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of GenAI technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in LLMs.
A day in the life
You start your morning reviewing experimental results from a model training run you kicked off the previous afternoon, analyzing metrics and refining your approach. By mid-morning, you are whiteboarding a new algorithmic design with engineering partners, working through system integration details. After lunch, you lead a science review where you present findings and gather feedback from peers. Later, you pair with a junior scientist to debug a data pipeline issue, turning it into a coaching moment. Your day wraps up drafting a section of a research paper capturing your team's latest results.
About the team
The FAI team has a mission to push the envelope in GenAI with LLMs, in order to provide the best-possible experience for our customers.
Basic Qualifications
- 3+ years of building machine learning models for business application experience
- PhD, or Master's degree and 6+ years of applied research experience
- Experience programming in Java, C++, Python or related language
- Experience with neural deep learning methods and machine learning
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with modeling tools such as R, scikit-learn, Spark MLLib, MxNet, Tensorflow, numpy, scipy etc.
- Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark etc.
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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, CA, Sunnyvale - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually
Source: Amazon · View original posting (opens in new tab)
How this pay compares
Base floor $192,200, above 54% of the 1,730 Data & ML roles in California on this site. The employer's range is $67,800 wide, 35% of the floor. Observed open for 5 days so far (since Nov 3, 2026).
Pay in context
Among 1,730 Data & ML roles in California listed on this site, the median base floor is $184,000 and the middle half runs from $154,000 to $224,000. This role's floor ($192,200) is above 54% of them; 14 others list the same floor.
Base floors of 1,730 Data & ML roles in California
Table
| Floor band | Share | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| $100K to $125K | 7.2% | 125 |
| $125K to $150K | 11.7% | 202 |
| $150K to $175K | 20.1% | 347 |
| $175K to $200K | 20.8% | 360 |
| $200K to $225K | 15.5% | 269 |
| $225K to $250K | 7.2% | 124 |
| $250K to $275K | 6.8% | 118 |
| $275K and up | 10.7% | 185 |
How this is calculated
- Statistic
- Base floor distribution of the cohort
- Formula
- count of cohort postings in each $25K band of published base floor / postings in the cohort
- Denominator
- 1,730 open postings with this job family in California
- Sample size
- 1730
- Hidden when
- the cohort has fewer than 30 postings
- Calculation version
- jobpage-analysis-v1
- Data as of
- 2026-11-08
- Employer set
- Open jobs on this site that publish a base salary of $100,000 or more
Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 8, 2026.
State against nationwide
Median base floor in California vs nationwide
Table
| Value | postings | |
|---|---|---|
| Data & ML, California | $184K | 1,730 |
| Data & ML, all states | $165K | 4,588 |
| This job's base floor (marked) | $192,200 |
How this is calculated
- Statistic
- Median floor, state vs nationwide
- Formula
- median published base floor of each cohort
- Denominator
- open postings of this job family
- Sample size
- 1730 in California; 4588 nationwide
- Hidden when
- either cohort has fewer than 30 postings
- Calculation version
- jobpage-analysis-v1
- Data as of
- 2026-11-08
- Employer set
- Open jobs on this site that publish a base salary of $100,000 or more
How Amazon pays
172 of Amazon's 4,075 live roles on this site list a higher base floor and 3,887 list a lower one. Across them the median floor is $143,700; the middle half runs from $131,500 to $159,300.
Base floors of Amazon's 4,075 live roles
Table
| Floor band | Share | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| $100K to $125K | 17.5% | 714 |
| $125K to $150K | 46.3% | 1,886 |
| $150K to $175K | 22.5% | 918 |
| $175K to $200K | 11.4% | 466 |
| $200K to $225K | 1.8% | 74 |
| $225K to $250K | 0.2% | 7 |
| $250K to $275K | 0.2% | 9 |
| $275K and up | <0.1% | 1 |
How this is calculated
- Statistic
- Employer base floor distribution
- Formula
- count of the employer's open roles in each $25K band of published base floor / its open roles
- Denominator
- 4,075 open public roles at this employer
- Sample size
- 4075
- Hidden when
- this employer has fewer than 5 roles
- Calculation version
- jobpage-analysis-v1
- Data as of
- current
- Employer set
- Open jobs on this site that publish a base salary of $100,000 or more
Similar pay elsewhere
Other employers' Data & ML roles in California with the nearest published base floor to $192,200, one per employer.
- Applied Scientist III - AMZ27946.1 Twitch · base floor $192,200
- Senior Research Scientist, EDA and AI NVIDIA · base floor $192,000
- Sr. ML Ops Engineer, Forward-Deployed 6sense · base floor $191,475
- Senior Data Scientist - Discovery Roblox · base floor $193,170
- Senior Computer Vision Engineer, Space Anduril Industries · base floor $191,000
This listingSr. Applied Scientist, Frontier AI Assets$192,200 to $260,000
Senior Technical Program Manager (ADBL176)$189,592 to $201,200
Principal Data Scientist, Prime Video$189,400 to $256,200
Principal Economist, Fulfillment by Amazon$189,400 to $256,200
Principal Data Scientist, AWS Analytics Engineering (AAE)$189,400 to $256,200
Principal Developer Advocate – AWS Trainium, Trainium$188,900 to $330,500
Principal, Corp BD, Corporate Business Development, Corporate Business Development$188,100 to $254,500
Chart as a table
| Role | Published base |
|---|---|
| Sr. Applied Scientist, Frontier AI Assets (this listing) | $192,200 - $260,000 |
| Senior Technical Program Manager (ADBL176) | $189,592 - $201,200 |
| Principal Data Scientist, Prime Video | $189,400 - $256,200 |
| Principal Economist, Fulfillment by Amazon | $189,400 - $256,200 |
| Principal Data Scientist, AWS Analytics Engineering (AAE) | $189,400 - $256,200 |
| Principal Developer Advocate – AWS Trainium, Trainium | $188,900 - $330,500 |
| Principal, Corp BD, Corporate Business Development, Corporate Business Development | $188,100 - $254,500 |
Observed changes
No changes to the pay or listing since we first observed this role on Nov 3, 2026 (5 days ago).
- First observed on the employer's board, already publishing a qualifying base salary
- Observed since
- Employer-stated posting date
- 2026-09-29
Where this pay comes from
Location as the employer wrote it: US, CA, Sunnyvale
USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually
- Method
- Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
- Checked
- Rule set
- us-base-v2
The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.
What we verified
- The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
- The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
- The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.
We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.
