Director, Applied Science, Amazon Search and Conversational Shopping (Rufus)

Join Amazon's Search and Conversational Shopping (Rufus) organization as an Applied Science Director to revolutionize the e-commerce customer experience using AI. We're seeking an exceptional leader to reimagine the next-generation search experiences that serve hundreds of millions of customers globally. In this role, you'll combine deep technical expertise with strategic leadership to pioneer advances in natural language processing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Key job responsibilities
- Define and execute the scientific vision for Search and Conversational Shopping (Rufus), developing breakthrough AI technologies that transform e-commerce customer experience
- Lead a world-class team of applied scientists and software development engineers in developing state-of-the-art search and conversational AI solutions
- Design and implement advanced machine learning models for: Natural language understanding, Conversational AI, and generative search interfaces
- Personalized recommendations
- Drive research and development of large language models and generative AI capabilities that enhance search relevance, accuracy, and user interaction
- Establish research priorities, technical roadmaps, and innovation strategies for next-generation search experience
- Mentor and develop scientific talent, fostering a culture of technical excellence and bold innovation
- Collaborate across Amazon to maximize the impact of scientific innovation
- Publish research, present at top-tier conferences, and contribute to the broader scientific community

About the team
The Search and Conversational Shopping (Rufus) team at Amazon represents the state of the art of AI-driven product discovery. We operate at an unprecedented scale, serving billions of search queries daily worldwide. Our team combines deep scientific expertise with a relentless focus on customer experience, developing technologies that make finding products more natural, intuitive, and engaging.

We work across multiple domains, from e-commerce and cloud services to entertainment and devices, creating search experience that adapt to diverse user needs. Our team collaborates closely with other Amazon AI organizations, including AWS AI Services, Alexa, and Artificial General Intelligence, creating a rich ecosystem of technological innovation.

We pride ourselves on a culture of customer obsession, continuous learning, and technical excellence. Team members have the opportunity to publish innovative research, contribute to open-source projects, and develop technologies that impact millions of users worldwide.