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About This Role
DESCRIPTION
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Excited by the disruptive potential of quantum technology? Want to innovate on behalf of our customers to build quantum computing tools for the cloud? Thrilled to be key part of Amazon, who has been investing in disruptive innovation for decades, pioneering and shaping the world’s technology?
Amazon Braket is looking for Applied Scientists in quantum computing to join an exceptional team of researchers and engineers. Quantum computing is rapidly emerging from the realms of science\-fiction, and our customers can the see the potential it has to address their challenges. One of our missions at AWS is to give customers access to the most innovative technology available and help them continuously reinvent their business. Quantum computing is a technology that holds promise to be transformational in many industries, and with Amazon Braket we are adding quantum computing resources to the toolkits of every researcher and developer.
As the technical lead for fault\-tolerant quantum compilation, you'll own the full stack that transforms high\-level quantum programs into optimized instructions that run on real hardware. You will play a key role in shaping the development roadmap of the service, and evangelizing new features and capabilities. Most importantly, you will work closely with our quantum computing research teams, as well as industry and academic partners. Our team collaborates across the entire AWS organization to get drive innovation and deliver the right solutions to our customers.
A successful candidate will be a person who enjoys diving deep into customer problems, conducting independent research and development, working across teams with academic and industry experts, shaping the long\-term QC strategy for AWS, and deliver the tools and systems that make useful quantum computing a reality for our customers. It will be a person who likes to have fun, loves to learn, and wants to innovate in the world of QC.
Key job responsibilities
- Own the technical vision and roadmap for the quantum compilation toolchain
- Lead and grow a team of applied scientists and software engineers; set the bar for scientific rigor and engineering quality
- Design compilation passes that minimize resource overhead for fault\-tolerant quantum architectures
- Collaborate with hardware, algorithms, and applications teams to co\-design the compiler around real device constraints and customer workloads
- Publish research and open\-source contributions that advance the state of the art and attract world\-class talent
About the team
Amazon Braket is the quantum computing service by AWS. We give researchers, developer, and enterprises access to quantum hardware and the tools to build on it. Our goal is to make quantum computing a core part of the AWS accelerated compute portfolio.
The compilation team sits at the center of Braket's technical stack — bridging the gap between what customers write and what future fault\-tolerant hardware executes. You'll work alongside hardware teams, scientists designing error correction protocols, and engineers building the service that bring these capabilities to our customers.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
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- 5\+ years of relevant work in industry or academia experience
- Experience with leading experienced scientists as well as having a record of developing junior members from academia or industry to a career track in a business environment
- Experience in more than one major programming language (C\+\+, Java, or related) and at least one scripting language (Perl, Python, or equivalent)
- Have peer\-reviewed scientific contributions in premier journals and conferences
- PhD in Quantum Computing, Computer Science, Mathematics, or related technical field
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
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- 10\+ years of relevant work in industry or academia experience
- Knowledge of problem solving, algorithm design and complexity analysis
- Experience applying theoretical models in an applied environment
- Experience communicating with users, other technical teams, and management to collect requirements, describe software product features, and technical designs
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, NY, New York \- 218,800\.00 \- 295,900\.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle \- 198,900\.00 \- 269,000\.00 USD annually
Salary Context
This $198K-$295K range is above the 75th percentile for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $183K across 117 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 4,133 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 3% of the market. At Amazon Web Services, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills Required
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $223,400 based on 307 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $227,400. This role's midpoint ($247K) sits 11% above the category median. Disclosed range: $198K to $295K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $200,700. Top-quartile compensation starts at $254,000. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($274,200) and AI Engineering Manager ($268,700). By seniority level: Entry: $97,760; Mid: $165,778; Senior: $227,400; Director: $250,000; VP: $250,000.
Amazon Web Services AI Hiring
Amazon Web Services has 80 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Research Scientist, AI Agent Developer, Data Scientist. Positions span New York, NY, US, Seattle, WA, US, Bellevue, WA, US. Compensation range: $177K - $299K.
Location Context
AI roles in New York pay a median of $211,000 across 2,760 tracked positions. That's 5% above the national median.
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,133 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 106 entry-level, 1,901 mid-level, 1,663 senior, and 463 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (583 positions). The remaining 3,532 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $200,700. Top-quartile compensation starts at $254,000. The 90th percentile reaches $307,500. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($274,200 median, 57 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($268,700 median, 42 roles); Research Engineer ($260,000 median, 442 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,133 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,865), Data Scientist (339), AI Software Engineer (313). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (106) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,901) and senior (1,663) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 463 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 14% of all AI roles (583 positions), with 3,532 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $200,700. Top-quartile roles start at $254,000, and the 90th percentile reaches $307,500. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $274,200 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,128 postings), Aws (1,324 postings), Azure (1,003 postings), Rag (916 postings), Gcp (817 postings), Pytorch (655 postings), Prompt Engineering (639 postings), Claude (571 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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