Applied Scientist Jobs in California
Applied Scientist jobs in California are among the most active in the country, concentrated in machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision across the state's deep technology, life sciences, and e-commerce sectors, with openings at every level from entry-level research engineer to principal applied scientist. The largest hiring markets are the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where employers like Google, Amazon, and Apple maintain major applied research operations. Demand is especially strong in recommendation systems, large language models, and applied ML for healthcare and autonomous systems. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 153+ Applied Scientist jobs
DESCRIPTION
Join the next science and engineering revolution at Amazon's Delivery Foundation Model team, where you'll work alongside world-class scientists and engineers to pioneer the next frontier of logistics through advanced AI and foundation models.
We are seeking an exceptional Senior Applied Scientist to help develop innovative foundation models that enable delivery of billions of packages worldwide. In this role, you'll combine highly technical work with scientific leadership, ensuring the team delivers robust solutions for dynamic real-world environments. Your team will leverage Amazon's vast data and computational resources to tackle ambitious problems across a diverse set of Amazon delivery use cases.
Key job responsibilities
- Design and implement novel deep learning architectures combining a multitude of modalities, including image, video, and geospatial data.
- Solve computational problems to train foundation models on vast amounts of Amazon data and infer at Amazon scale, taking advantage of latest developments in hardware and deep learning libraries.
- As a foundation model developer, collaborate with multiple science and engineering teams to help build adaptations that power use cases across Amazon Last Mile deliveries, improving experience and safety of a delivery driver, an Amazon customer, and improving efficiency of Amazon delivery network.
- Guide technical direction for specific research initiatives, ensuring robust performance in production environments.
- Mentor fellow scientists while maintaining strong individual technical contributions.
A day in the life
- Develop and implement novel foundation model architectures, working hands-on with data and our extensive training and evaluation infrastructure.
- Guide and support fellow scientists in solving complex technical challenges, from trajectory planning to efficient multi-task learning.
- Guide and support fellow engineers in building scalable and reusable infra to support model training, evaluation, and inference.
- Lead focused technical initiatives from conception through deployment, ensuring successful integration with production systems.
- Drive technical discussions within the team and key stakeholders.
- Conduct experiments and prototype new ideas.
- Mentor team members while maintaining significant hands-on contribution to technical solutions.
About the team
The Delivery Foundation Model team combines ambitious research vision with real-world impact. Our foundation models provide generative reasoning capabilities required to meet the demands of Amazon's global Last Mile delivery network. We leverage Amazon's unparalleled computational infrastructure and extensive datasets to deploy state-of-the-art foundation models to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of Amazon deliveries. Our work spans the full spectrum of foundation model development, from multimodal training using images, videos, and sensor data, to sophisticated modeling strategies that can handle diverse real-world scenarios. We build everything end to end, from data preparation to model training and evaluation to inference, along with all the tooling needed to understand and analyze model performance.
Join us if you're excited about pushing the boundaries of what's possible in logistics, working with world-class scientists and engineers, and seeing your innovations deployed at unprecedented scale.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- PhD in engineering, technology, computer science, machine learning, robotics, operations research, statistics, mathematics or equivalent quantitative field, or Master's degree and 10+ years of industry or academic research experience.
- 5+ years of building machine learning models or developing algorithms for business application experience.
- Proficient with Data, experience with SQL and Spark.
- Expert coders comfortable working in production environments using Python, C++ or other languages.
- Strong publication record at top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, RSS, CoRL) OR Demonstrated experience in applying machine learning innovation in industry.
- Experience mentoring junior scientists / engineers.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience building foundation models for industry or research.
- Experience designing multi-modal model architectures.
- Experience building models for motion prediction, e.g. autonomous driving.
- Track record of successful production ML deployments.
- Experience with large-scale distributed environments for ML training and inference.
- History of impactful first-author publications at major conferences.
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.
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.
LOCATION
USA, CA, SANTA CLARA - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 167,100.00 - 226,100.00 USD annually
DESCRIPTION
Join the next science and engineering revolution at Amazon's Delivery Foundation Model team, where you'll work alongside world-class scientists and engineers to pioneer the next frontier of logistics through advanced AI and foundation models.
We are seeking an exceptional Senior Applied Scientist to help develop innovative foundation models that enable delivery of billions of packages worldwide. In this role, you'll combine highly technical work with scientific leadership, ensuring the team delivers robust solutions for dynamic real-world environments. Your team will leverage Amazon's vast data and computational resources to tackle ambitious problems across a diverse set of Amazon delivery use cases.
Key job responsibilities
- Design and implement novel deep learning architectures combining a multitude of modalities, including image, video, and geospatial data.
- Solve computational problems to train foundation models on vast amounts of Amazon data and infer at Amazon scale, taking advantage of latest developments in hardware and deep learning libraries.
- As a foundation model developer, collaborate with multiple science and engineering teams to help build adaptations that power use cases across Amazon Last Mile deliveries, improving experience and safety of a delivery driver, an Amazon customer, and improving efficiency of Amazon delivery network.
- Guide technical direction for specific research initiatives, ensuring robust performance in production environments.
- Mentor fellow scientists while maintaining strong individual technical contributions.
A day in the life
- Develop and implement novel foundation model architectures, working hands-on with data and our extensive training and evaluation infrastructure.
- Guide and support fellow scientists in solving complex technical challenges, from trajectory planning to efficient multi-task learning.
- Guide and support fellow engineers in building scalable and reusable infra to support model training, evaluation, and inference.
- Lead focused technical initiatives from conception through deployment, ensuring successful integration with production systems.
- Drive technical discussions within the team and key stakeholders.
- Conduct experiments and prototype new ideas.
- Mentor team members while maintaining significant hands-on contribution to technical solutions.
About the team
The Delivery Foundation Model team combines ambitious research vision with real-world impact. Our foundation models provide generative reasoning capabilities required to meet the demands of Amazon's global Last Mile delivery network. We leverage Amazon's unparalleled computational infrastructure and extensive datasets to deploy state-of-the-art foundation models to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of Amazon deliveries. Our work spans the full spectrum of foundation model development, from multimodal training using images, videos, and sensor data, to sophisticated modeling strategies that can handle diverse real-world scenarios. We build everything end to end, from data preparation to model training and evaluation to inference, along with all the tooling needed to understand and analyze model performance.
Join us if you're excited about pushing the boundaries of what's possible in logistics, working with world-class scientists and engineers, and seeing your innovations deployed at unprecedented scale.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- PhD in engineering, technology, computer science, machine learning, robotics, operations research, statistics, mathematics or equivalent quantitative field, or Master's degree and 10+ years of industry or academic research experience.
- 5+ years of building machine learning models or developing algorithms for business application experience.
- Proficient with Data, experience with SQL and Spark.
- Expert coders comfortable working in production environments using Python, C++ or other languages.
- Strong publication record at top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, RSS, CoRL) OR Demonstrated experience in applying machine learning innovation in industry.
- Experience mentoring junior scientists / engineers.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience building foundation models for industry or research.
- Experience designing multi-modal model architectures.
- Experience building models for motion prediction, e.g. autonomous driving.
- Track record of successful production ML deployments.
- Experience with large-scale distributed environments for ML training and inference.
- History of impactful first-author publications at major conferences.
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.
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.
LOCATION
USA, CA, SANTA CLARA - 192,200.00 - 260,000.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 167,100.00 - 226,100.00 USD annually
See All 153+ Applied Scientist Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Applied Scientist JobsApplied Scientist Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Applied Scientist Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Amazon51
- Amazon Web Services23
- TikTok12
- Apple10
- Adobe8
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software43
- Retail13
- E-Commerce & Online Marketplaces13
- Distribution & Wholesale8
- Electronics & Hardware5
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in applied scientist jobs across California.
- Master's or PhD in computer science, statistics, or a closely related quantitative field
- Proficiency in Python and machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow
- Demonstrated experience building and deploying ML models in production environments
- Strong foundation in statistics, probability, and experimental design including A/B testing
- Experience with large-scale distributed data systems and cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP
- Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and data teams
Applied Scientist Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a applied scientist in California?
Becoming an applied scientist in California typically requires a graduate degree in computer science, statistics, applied mathematics, or a related field, though strong candidates with a bachelor's degree and extensive project or research experience do get hired. California has no state-issued license for applied scientists, so employers focus on demonstrated technical skill, a portfolio of applied ML work or published research, and hands-on experience with real-world datasets and production systems.
How much do applied scientists make in California?
Applied scientists in California earn a median of about $141,590 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $77,480 for the lowest 10% to over $224,920 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire applied scientists in California?
Employers hiring applied scientists in California right now include Amazon, Amazon Web Services, and TikTok, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. California's concentration of major technology headquarters, biotech research hubs, and defense contractors means the employer base is unusually broad, covering consumer platforms, enterprise software, and life sciences.
Which California cities have the most applied scientist jobs?
San Jose, Santa Clara, and San Francisco have the most applied scientist openings in California, driven by the Bay Area's dense concentration of technology headquarters and AI research labs, Los Angeles's growing ad-tech, entertainment-tech, and autonomous-vehicle sector, and San Diego's strong biotech and defense research presence that generates consistent demand for applied ML and data science expertise.
Are there remote applied scientist jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 45% of applied scientist openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting how much of this work involves modeling, experimentation, and code that can be done entirely off-site. Roles focused on research, experimentation, and modeling tend to be the most remote-friendly, while positions requiring close integration with hardware, robotics, or on-site data collection are more likely to require in-person presence.
How can I get hired as a applied scientist in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is through a university research or internship program, since California's large technology employers including Google, Meta, and Amazon run structured internship and new-grad programs that convert directly to full-time applied scientist roles. Adjacent roles like data analyst, machine learning engineer, or research assistant give candidates hands-on model-building experience that transfers well. Building a public portfolio of end-to-end ML projects, contributing to open-source research, or completing a relevant graduate specialization at a UC campus can all strengthen an early-career application significantly.
Where can I find and apply to applied scientist jobs in California?
You can find and apply to applied scientist jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings across industries and experience levels. Find roles that fit your background and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 153+ Applied Scientist Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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