Senior Applied Scientist , EC2, Onhand Capacity Optimization

Amazon; North Versailles (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 167,000 - 226,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Amazon Web Services, Inc. is seeking a Senior Applied Scientist to join the EC2 Onhand Capacity Optimization team in Seattle.

You will lead the design and implementation of optimization models that improve EC2 capacity usage, spanning from high-level capacity shaping to placement on physical machines, with impact on customer experience and cost. You will mentor junior scientists, collaborate with software engineers and product managers, and communicate results through technical and business

Qualifications

• PhD in operations research, applied mathematics, theoretical computer science, or equivalent.
• 6+ years of relevant research or industry experience in developing algorithms.
• Publications in refereed journals or conferences.
• Expertise in exact, approximation, and heuristic optimization methods.
• Experience prototyping and developing software in Python, C++, Java.
• Comfortable with SQL and very large-scale datasets.
• Excellent writing skills to document models and present business cases.
• Experience leading large projects across cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and scale optimization algorithms for EC2 capacity.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to move from prototyping to production.
• Review approaches and mentor junior scientists.
• Communicate results to guide business decisions and engineering investments.
• Contribute to system design for scalable, maintainable optimization engine.

Skills

Python

C++

Java

SQL

Excellent writing skills

Leadership

Education

PhD in operations research / applied mathematics / theoretical computer science

Tools

Gurobi

CPLEX

Job description

Senior Applied Scientist , EC2, Onhand Capacity Optimization

Job ID: 10522682 | Amazon Web Services, Inc.

AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Capacity Research and Engineering Org is looking for an experienced applied optimization expert. This leader will join the Onhand Packing Science team to design, implement, and scale decision-making algorithms to optimize EC2’s use of existing capacity. The team owns the optimization of all aspects of virtual instances placement across EC2, from high level supply shaping right down the final physical machine a customer’s instance gets allocated to. Given the sheer scale of EC2 any improvement efficiency within capacity is utilized has significant business impact.

Key Job Responsibilities

We are seeking an expert with a strong background in mathematical optimization with excellent modeling skills, with experience using both exact and heuristic methods. The domain requires a tight collaboration with engineering teams, to ensure we are able to quickly move from modelling and prototyping to full scale production usage. You should be confirmable with the needed statistical approaches for production A/B tests as well as have a solid understanding experimental design more broadly. Being successful in the role requires having the scientific breadth to understand the interactions between different phases of a project from data analysis through to production, including resolving issues after rollout.

You will be hands‑on with the mathematical modeling and implementation, and will also contribute to the design of the engineering system with the scalability, extensibility, maintainability, and correctness of the optimization engine in mind. You will review approaches by other scientists and engineers in terms of business relevance, technical validity, engineering / science interface, and computational performance. You will mentor and lead junior scientists by example. Communicating your results to guide the direction of the business and working with software development teams to implement your ideas in code is key to success. You will write technical, and less frequently, business documents that influence engineering investments and business direction. Collaborating with other scientists, software engineers, and product managers, you will develop creative, novel, and data-driven approaches to improve our existing cloud compute offerings and define new ones in a fast‑paced and quickly changing environment, improving the experience of our customers and impacting the bottom line of EC2.

About the team

A day in the life

Diverse Experiences

AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture

Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee‑led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

Mentorship & Career Growth

We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge‑sharing, mentorship and other career‑advancing resources here to help you develop into a better‑rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance

We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in operations research, applied mathematics, theoretical computer science, or equivalent
• 6+ years of relevant academic research or industry experience in developing algorithms.
• Publications in refereed academic journals or conference.
• In-depth knowledge of exact, approximation algorithms, and heuristic methods for solving difficult optimization problems.
• Experience in prototyping and developing software in traditional programming languages (Python, C++, Java etc.).
• Comfortable with SQL and experience with very large-scale dataset.
• Excellent writing skills to document the models and analyses and for presenting business cases with results/conclusions in order to influence important decisions.
• Experience leading large projects across cross functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience collaborating with engineers to deliver novel scientific solutions.

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.

Compensation & Benefits

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 .

• 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
• parental leave

Location & Salary

USA, WA, Seattle - 167,100.00 - 226,100.00 USD annually

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