Ontologist, Product Knowledge

Amazon Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Inc. is seeking an Ontologist to join the Product Knowledge Ontology Team in Seattle.

You will help build semantic, extensible data models for Amazon’s vast product catalog and ensure ontologies support machine ingestion and accurate product discovery across web and mobile experiences. You will collaborate with business partners, data science and engineering teams to deliver knowledge-based solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Library Science, Information Systems, Linguistics or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of relevant work experience in ontology and/or taxonomy roles.
• Proven skills in data retrieval and data research techniques.
• Ability to quickly understand complex processes and communicate them in simple language.
• Ability to communicate knowledge-based requirements to engineering and retail teams.
• Familiarity with Semantic Web technologies (RDF/s, OWL), query languages (SPARQL) and validation/reasoning standards (SHACL, SPIN).
• Detail-oriented problem solving and ability to handle ambiguity in fast-changing environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop semantic, extensible data models for Amazon's expansive product catalog.
• Ensure ontologies provide comprehensive sub-domain coverage for machine ingestion and inference.
• Research global understanding of Amazon products to develop scalable data models that solve customer problems.
• Create new schema using Generative AI models.
• Expand data retrieval techniques by leveraging the catalog and query languages.
• Analyze website metrics and product discovery behaviors to optimize knowledge graph data models globally.
• Coordinate cross-functional projects with technical and non-technical teams.
• Contribute to tool features and processes for the Ontology team and align with best practices.

Skills

Semantic Web

Ontology development

SPARQL

SHACL

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

RDF/OWL

SPARQL

GenAI libraries

Job description

The vision of the Product Knowledge Ontology Team is to provide a standardized, semantically rich, easily discoverable, extensible, and universally applicable body of product knowledge that can be consistently utilized across customer shopping experiences, selling partner listing experiences and internal enrichment of product data. We aim to make product knowledge compelling, easy to use, and feature rich. Our work to build comprehensive product knowledge allows us to semantically understand a customer's intent - whether that is a shopping mission or a seller offering products. We strive to make these experiences more intuitive for all customers.

As an Ontologist, you work on a global team of knowledge builders to deliver world-class, intuitive, and comprehensive taxonomy and ontology models to optimize product discovery for Amazon web and mobile experiences. You collaborate with business partners, data science and engineering teams to deliver knowledge-based solutions to enable product discoverability for customers. In this role, you will directly impact the customer experience as well as the company's product knowledge foundation.

Key job responsibilities

• Develop logical, semantically rich, and extensible data models for Amazon's expansive product catalog
• Ensure our ontologies provide comprehensive sub-domain coverage that are available for machine ingestion and inference
• Research worldwide understanding of Amazon products to develop scalable data models that solve customer problems and enhance product discoverability
• Create new schema using Generative Artificial Intelligence (generative AI) models
• Expand existing data retrieval techniques by utilizing our extensive product catalog and query languages
• Analyze website metrics and product discovery behaviors to make data-driven decisions on optimizing our knowledge graph data models globally
• Contribute to the development of new tool features and processes for the Ontology team
• Drive alignment to ontology modeling and technology best practices and principles within our organization and across Amazon
• Coordinate cross-functional projects with a broad range of technical and non-technical teams

About the team

Our team has a global presence: we celebrate diverse cultures and backgrounds within our team and our customer base. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion, offering continuous access to internal affinity groups as well as highlighting diversity programs. We care about your career growth, from your initial company introduction and training sessions, to continuous support throughout your entire career at Amazon. We recognize each team member as an individual, and we will build on your skills to help you grow. We have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures, and we are building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent
• Degree in Library Science, Information Systems, Linguistics or equivalent professional experience
• 3+ years of relevant work experience working in ontology and/or taxonomy roles
• Proven skills in data retrieval and data research techniques
• Ability to quickly understand complex processes and communicate them in simple language
• Ability to communicate knowledge-based requirements and needs to engineering and retail teams
• Familiarity with Semantic Web technologies (RDF/s, OWL), query languages (SPARQL) and validation/reasoning standards (SHACL, SPIN)
• Detail-oriented problem-solving, ability to work in fast-changing environment and manage ambiguity
• Proven track record of strong communication and interpersonal skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Library Science, Information Systems, Linguistics or other relevant fields
• Experience building data models in the e-commerce and semantic search spaces
• Experience working with schema-level constructs (e.g. higher-order classes, punning, property inheritance)
• Familiarity with software engineering life cycle
• Familiarity with ontology manipulation programming libraries
• Exposure to GenAI, data science and/or machine learning, including graph embeddings

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 experie