Overview

Amazon's Advertising Trust (AT) organization is seeking a Director of Applied Science to lead our global science, engineering and data teams. This role will shape the future of advertising trust and safety, overseeing a large and diverse organization across Applied Science, Software Development and Data Engineering teams. Reporting to the VP of Advertising Trust and Privacy, this is a Director of Directors role where you will drive innovation in content understanding, policy automation, and GenAI applications while scaling our capabilities across Amazon's advertising ecosystem. You will own scaled model development and deployment in a high availability and complex real time ecosystem.

AT is at the forefront of advertising-specific foundational model development and the capabilities that rich metadata can provide to the ad serving bidder. You will lead as an expert partner with business, sales, product and policy teams to solve the hardest technical problems facing the Ads business. This role requires leading through a global organization across four continents, with influence across multiple organizations and strong leadership in managing distributed teams across time zones and cultures. The role demands expertise in managing different disciplines while maintaining high standards of technical excellence, operational efficiency and team culture. You will provide industry-leading science leadership while also engaging in hands-on work on the most challenging problems that accelerate the team.

To succeed in this role, your past work should demonstrate significant business impact at scale and include industry-first inventions for customers. Previous roles should show leadership in defining, designing, architecting, implementing, and delivering advanced, cross-cutting, and ambiguous scientific challenges spanning an organization, ideally in the Ad Tech industry.

Key job responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
  • Define and execute the scientific and technical vision for AT's next generation of tools and capabilities.
  • Drive innovation in GenAI, LLMs, computer vision, and other emerging technologies.
  • Lead cross-functional planning and execution across science, engineering and data teams.
  • Partner with senior leaders across Amazon Advertising to align on strategic initiatives.
  • Own the end-to-end delivery of AT's science and technical roadmap.
• Organizational Development
  • Build and scale high-performing teams across multiple disciplines and global locations.
  • Drive hiring and development strategies for senior technical talent.
  • Create career growth paths across scientific and technical roles.
  • Establish performance standards and development frameworks.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, inclusion, and technical excellence.
• Technical Innovation
  • Guide research directions in content understanding, policy automation, and trust & safety.
  • Drive adoption of emerging technologies while ensuring operational excellence.
  • Lead technical planning and resource allocation across teams.
  • Partner with academia and research organizations to advance the state of the art.
  • Represent AT's technical achievements across multiple venues.
• Product & Business Impact
  • Align technical investments with business priorities and customer needs.
  • Drive measurable improvements in accuracy, efficiency, and scale.
  • Own key metrics across moderation quality, automation rates, and customer satisfaction.
  • Build strong partnerships with business stakeholders and partner teams.
  • Guide product strategy and roadmap development.

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Operations Research, or related field
• 15+ years of industry experience in applied research and development
• 8+ years of large scale technical organization and people management
• Track record of delivering large-scale ML/AI systems
• Strong publication record in top-tier conferences/journals
• Experience managing multi-disciplinary technical teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in ad tech, content moderation, or trust & safety
• Track record of successful organizational transformation
• Experience with GenAI and large language models
• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking skills
• Experience managing distributed global teams
• History of external thought leadership and industry recognition

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

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.

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $262,500/year in our lowest geographic market up to $350,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Depending on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. For more information, please visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits. This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site.