Data Scientist, Amazon Ads Marketing Decision Science

$119K - $178K New York, NY, US Mid Level Data Scientist

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Skills & Technologies

Python

About This Role

AI job market dashboard showing open roles by category

DESCRIPTION

Amazon Advertising drives billions of ad impressions and millions of clicks daily, powering discovery and sales for advertisers across Amazon's Retail and Marketplace businesses. The Ads Marketing Decision Science team sits at the intersection of data science and marketing strategy. We build intelligent, data-driven systems that analyze advertiser behavior at large scale to deliver the right guidance to the right advertiser at the right time. Our work spans behavioral modeling, content intelligence, automated decision systems, and GenAI applications, enabling personalized marketing experiences that help advertisers make smarter advertising decisions and grow their business on Amazon.

We are looking for a Data Scientist who brings strong fundamentals in machine learning, causal inference, and statistical modeling to solve real advertiser problems. You will build predictive models, design experiments, develop segmentation frameworks, and leverage GenAI capabilities where applicable, taking solutions end-to-end from proof-of-concept to production at scale. You will partner closely with scientists, engineers, and product managers on a daily basis to prototype rapidly, ensure data integrity in production systems, and deliver measurable advertiser impact. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems with next level science, come join us as we innovate and make history.

Key job responsibilities

  • Define and execute data science solutions end-to-end, from problem framing through production deployment.
  • Build machine learning models (classification, regression, clustering, ranking) for advertiser segmentation, propensity modeling, and recommendations.
  • Apply causal inference and experimentation methods (A/B testing, difference-in-differences, propensity score matching) to measure the impact of marketing interventions.
  • Analyze large-scale advertiser behavioral data to identify trends, surface growth opportunities, and support optimal decision making.
  • Collaborate with colleagues across science and engineering disciplines for fast turnaround proof-of-concept prototyping at scale.
  • Establish and drive data hygiene best practices to ensure coherence and integrity of data feeding into production ML/AI solutions.
  • Leverage GenAI and LLM capabilities to enhance science products where applicable

A day in the life

You will solve real-world problems by analyzing large volumes of advertiser data, building predictive models, designing experiments, and measuring business impact. You will prototype rapidly, validate ideas with data, and partner with engineers to productize and scale successful solutions. You will collaborate daily with scientists, engineers, and product managers across the advertising organization, working in a cross-functional, fast-paced environment where data drives decisions and helps advertisers grow.

About the team

We are a team of Applied Scientists, Research Scientists, Data Scientists, and Business Intelligence Engineers with deep expertise in ML, NLP, Gen-AI, RL, and causal inference, from a diverse range of backgrounds. We partner closely with strong engineers, product managers, and sales leaders who bring ads-industry depth and experience building scalable modeling and software solutions.BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

  • 1+ years of data querying languages (e.g. SQL), scripting languages (e.g. Python) or statistical/mathematical software (e.g. R, SAS, Matlab, etc.) experience
  • 2+ years of data/research scientist, statistician or quantitative analyst in an internet-based company with complex and big data sources experience
  • Bachelor's degree

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Knowledge of statistical packages and business intelligence tools such as SPSS, SAS, S-PLUS, or R
  • Experience with clustered data processing (e.g., Hadoop, Spark, Map-reduce, and Hive)

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 - 119,200.00 - 178,400.00 USD annually

Salary Context

This $119K-$178K range is below the median for Data Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $167K across 150 roles with salary data).

View full Data Scientist salary data →

Role Details

Company Amazon.com
Title Data Scientist, Amazon Ads Marketing Decision Science
Location New York, NY, US
Category Data Scientist
Experience Mid Level
Salary $119K - $178K
Remote No

About This Role

Data Scientists extract insights and build predictive models from data. In the AI era, many roles now include LLM-powered analytics, automated reporting, and integration with generative AI tools. The role has evolved from 'the person who runs SQL queries' to 'the person who builds AI-powered data products.'

Modern data science roles fall into two camps: analytics-focused (insights, dashboards, experimentation) and ML-focused (building predictive models, recommendation systems, NLP features). The best data scientists can operate in both modes. The AI shift means that even analytics-focused roles now involve building automated insight pipelines using LLMs, going well beyond one-off reports.

Across the 8,943 AI roles we're tracking, Data Scientist positions make up 4% of the market. At Amazon.com, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.

Data Scientist roles remain in high demand, though the definition keeps shifting. Companies increasingly want candidates who can bridge traditional statistics with modern ML and LLM capabilities. The 'pure insights' data scientist role is consolidating into analytics engineering, while the 'build models' data scientist role is merging with ML engineering.

What the Work Looks Like

A typical week includes: analyzing experiment results for a product feature launch, building a predictive model for customer churn, creating an automated reporting pipeline using LLM-powered summarization, presenting insights to stakeholders, and cleaning data (always cleaning data). The ratio of analysis to engineering varies by company, but expect both.

Data Scientist roles remain in high demand, though the definition keeps shifting. Companies increasingly want candidates who can bridge traditional statistics with modern ML and LLM capabilities. The 'pure insights' data scientist role is consolidating into analytics engineering, while the 'build models' data scientist role is merging with ML engineering.

Skills Required

Python (16% of roles)

Python, SQL, and statistical modeling are the foundation. Increasingly, roles want experience with LLMs for data analysis, automated insight generation, and building AI-powered data products. Familiarity with cloud data platforms (Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks) and ML frameworks (scikit-learn, PyTorch) covers most job requirements.

Experimentation design and causal inference are underrated skills that separate strong candidates. Companies care about whether their product changes cause improvements, and can distinguish causation from correlation. A/B testing methodology, Bayesian statistics, and the ability to communicate uncertainty to non-technical stakeholders are high-value skills.

Good postings specify the data stack, the types of problems you'll work on, and the team structure. Look for companies that differentiate between analytics and ML data science. Vague 'data scientist' postings that list every skill under the sun usually mean the company doesn't know what they need.

Compensation Benchmarks

Data Scientist roles pay a median of $190,000 based on 1,406 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $193,200. This role's midpoint ($148K) sits 22% below the category median. Disclosed range: $119K to $178K.

Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,380. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,148. The 90th percentile reaches $319,310. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($253,100) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $110,408; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $228,700; Director: $272,250; VP: $235,000.

Amazon.com AI Hiring

Amazon.com has 65 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Research Scientist, Data Scientist, AI Product Manager. Positions span Seattle, WA, US, New York, NY, US, Bellevue, WA, US. Compensation range: $129K - $325K.

Location Context

AI roles in New York pay a median of $221,000 across 2,878 tracked positions. That's 4% above the national median.

Career Path

Common paths into Data Scientist roles include Data Analyst, Statistician, Quantitative Researcher.

From here, career progression typically leads toward Senior Data Scientist, ML Engineer, AI Product Manager.

Start with statistics and SQL. Build a real analysis project on public data that demonstrates insight generation alongside model building. The market values data scientists who can communicate findings clearly to business stakeholders. If you want to move toward ML engineering, invest in software engineering fundamentals and production deployment skills.

What to Expect in Interviews

Interviews combine statistics, coding, and business acumen. SQL is almost always tested, often with complex joins and window functions. Expect a case study round where you're given a business problem and asked to design an analysis plan. Coding rounds focus on pandas, statistical modeling, and visualization. The strongest differentiator is how well you communicate insights to non-technical stakeholders during presentation rounds.

When evaluating opportunities: Good postings specify the data stack, the types of problems you'll work on, and the team structure. Look for companies that differentiate between analytics and ML data science. Vague 'data scientist' postings that list every skill under the sun usually mean the company doesn't know what they need.

AI Hiring Overview

The AI job market has 8,943 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 175 entry-level, 4,132 mid-level, 3,268 senior, and 1,368 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (521 positions). The remaining 8,351 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.

The market median for AI roles is $213,380. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,148. The 90th percentile reaches $319,310. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($253,100 median, 57 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 419 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 51 roles).

Data Scientist roles remain in high demand, though the definition keeps shifting. Companies increasingly want candidates who can bridge traditional statistics with modern ML and LLM capabilities. The 'pure insights' data scientist role is consolidating into analytics engineering, while the 'build models' data scientist role is merging with ML engineering.

The AI Job Market Today

The AI job market spans 8,943 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,739), AI Product Manager (403), AI Software Engineer (402). 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 (175) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,132) and senior (3,268) 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 1,368 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.

Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (521 positions), with 8,351 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 $213,380. Top-quartile roles start at $264,148, and the 90th percentile reaches $319,310. 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 $253,100 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. 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 (1,422 postings), Aws (808 postings), Azure (638 postings), Rag (555 postings), Gcp (457 postings), Pytorch (433 postings), Claude (341 postings), Kubernetes (337 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

Based on 1,406 roles with disclosed compensation, the median salary for Data Scientist positions is $190,000. Actual compensation varies by seniority, location, and company stage.
Python, SQL, and statistical modeling are the foundation. Increasingly, roles want experience with LLMs for data analysis, automated insight generation, and building AI-powered data products. Familiarity with cloud data platforms (Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks) and ML frameworks (scikit-learn, PyTorch) covers most job requirements.
About 6% of the 8,943 AI roles we track offer remote work. Remote availability varies by company and seniority level, with senior and leadership roles more likely to offer location flexibility.
Amazon.com is among the companies actively hiring for AI and ML talent. Check our company profiles for detailed breakdowns of open roles, salary ranges, and hiring trends.
Common next steps from Data Scientist positions include Senior Data Scientist, ML Engineer, AI Product Manager. Progression depends on whether you lean toward technical depth, people management, or product strategy.

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