Sr. Manager, Applied Science, Sponsored Products and Brands

Amazon.com; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 252,000 - 340,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon in Palo Alto is seeking a Sr. Manager of Applied Science to lead the Sponsored Products and Brands, Search Relevance team. You will shape how products are presented and ensure relevant, trustworthy recommendations across search results.

The role requires building scalable AI systems, defining success metrics, and partnering with cross‑functional leaders to drive strategic initiatives across Search, Retail, and Advertising. Strong leadership and deep ML expertise are essential.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, ML, Statistics or related field, or Master's with 10+ years of applied science experience.
• 8+ years of hands-on experience building and deploying AI models at scale (NLP, IR, or recommendation).
• 5+ years leading teams of applied scientists or ML engineers with hiring/mentoring.
• Led end-to-end AI projects from problem formulation to deployment and metrics.
• Strong depth in relevance modeling, ranking, or search quality evaluation.
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams to align goals and roadmaps.
• Proficiency with PyTorch and TensorFlow; experience with Spark and distributed computing.
• Experience communicating complex technical concepts to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of predictive models to mitigate irrelevant or low-quality product recommendations.
• Design and scale AI-powered systems to improve search results.
• Expand search quality definition beyond query relevance to shopper preferences and context.
• Own measurement of customer experience metrics reported to leadership.
• Build scalable measurement frameworks for evolving search formats.
• Invest in AI infrastructure to reduce CX measurement costs.
• Develop AI models with reduced manual auditing and data generation effort.
• Create novel product experiences with intelligent image/title selection and contextual explanations.

Skills

AI leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

NLP

Information retrieval

Recommendation systems

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Spark

Executive communication

Education

PhD in Computer Science, ML, Statistics

Master's in related quantitative field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Spark

Distributed computing

Job description

Sr. Manager, Applied Science, Sponsored Products and Brands

Job ID: 10589266 | Amazon.com Services LLC

Are you passionate about using AI to protect and elevate the shopping experience for hundreds of millions of customers? We're looking for a Sr. Applied Science Manager to lead the Sponsored Products and Brands, Search Relevance team, ensuring that every product recommendation shoppers see on our search results page is relevant, trustworthy, and genuinely useful. In this role, you'll be at the forefront of defining what a great search experience looks like by inventing entirely new ways to help customers understand why a product matches their needs.

Safeguard the Customer Experience

• Lead the development of predictive models that identify and mitigate irrelevant, misleading, or low-quality product recommendations across search placements
• Design and scale AI-powered systems whose outputs are used to continually improve the search results
• Expand the definition of search quality beyond query-ASIN relevance to encompass shopper preferences, page-level context, and overall experience coherence

Define and Measure Search Quality at Scale

• Own the development and ongoing measurement of customer experience metrics as reported to senior leadership
• Partner with leaders across Search, Retail, and Advertising organizations to align on metric definitions and establish independent measurement standards where needed
• Build scalable measurement frameworks that anticipate evolving search presentation formats and proactively adapt to them

Invest in State-of-the-Art AI Infrastructure

• Drive investment in AI infrastructure and systems that reduce the cost of measuring and monitoring CX metrics across all placements and marketplaces
• Build increasingly precise AI models that minimize human effort for auditing, training data generation, and placement-specific customization
• Make strategic build-vs-reuse decisions by staying closely connected to peer teams across the organization

Invent New Product Experiences

• Create novel product presentation experiences that help shoppers understand the differential value of each result — through intelligent selection of images and titles, contextual explanations, and visual indicators such as badges and tags
• Partner with peer teams to share learnings and advocate for the adoption of successful innovations beyond your immediate scope

Lead and Influence Across the Organization

• Manage and grow a team of applied scientists, engineers, and product managers
• Partner with senior leaders (Director-level and above) across multiple organizations to drive alignment on shared goals and cross-functional initiatives
• Represent search quality and customer experience in executive-level reviews and reporting cadences

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, or Master's degree with 10+ years of applied science experience
• 8+ years of hands‑on experience building and deploying AI models in production systems at scale, with a focus on NLP, information retrieval, or recommendation systems
• 5+ years of experience managing and growing teams of applied scientists and/or machine learning engineers, including hiring, mentoring, and career development
• Demonstrated track record of leading end-to-end AI projects from problem formulation through deployment, measurement, and iteration in a large-scale consumer-facing product
• Strong technical depth in relevance modeling, ranking systems, or search quality evaluation, with experience defining and operationalizing customer experience metrics
• Experience partnering with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, business) to align on shared goals, influence roadmaps, and drive organizational alignment
• Proficiency in modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow) and large-scale data processing technologies (e.g., Spark, distributed computing)
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts and results to senior leadership (Director-level and above), including through executive-level reviews and business reporting cadences

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with large language models (LLMs), multimodal AI, or foundation models applied to search, content understanding, or product classification
• Track record of inventing novel customer-facing product experiences — such as intelligent content selection, contextual explanations, badges, or visual indicators — and driving them from concept to launch
• Deep expertise in search quality measurement methodologies, including human evaluation frameworks, automated annotation pipelines, and scalable auditing systems that reduce reliance on manual effort
• Experience building AI-powered measurement and monitoring infrastructure that operates across multiple marketplaces, placements, or surface areas
• Familiarity with the advertising ecosystem, including sponsored products, sponsored brands, and the interplay between organic and paid search results
• Demonstrated success making strategic build-vs-reuse decisions and establishing shared platforms or frameworks adopted by peer teams across an organization
• Experience defining independent measurement standards and establishing metric alignment across organizations with potentially competing incentives (e.g., Search, Retail, Advertising)
• Published research in top-tier venues (e.g., KDD, NeurIPS, SIGIR, WWW, ICML) in areas relevant to information retrieval, recommendation systems, or applied NLP
• Experience leading teams of 10+ individuals across multiple disciplines (applied science, engineering, product management) with a strong culture of scientific rigor and customer obsession

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status. Veterans, military spouses, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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.

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, Palo Alto - 251,600.00 - 340,300.00 USD annually