Sr. Research Scientist, WW Pricing & Promotions Science

Amazon • Seattle, WA

1d

About The Position

Amazon's Worldwide Pricing & Promotions organization is seeking a strong Sr.
Research Scientist to help solve complex business problems involving pricing
algorithms and promotional strategies at a global scale. The Sr. Research
Scientist will operate on a team of applied scientists, economists, and
scholars. Our team applies causal inferences, statistics, machine learning,
optimization, and econometrics to drive actionable insights and to improve
strategic business decision-making.

This is an individual contributor role that requires collaboration across teams
and functions to solve core business problems for the company around setting new
pricing and promotional strategies. The work is part of significant scientific
investments in promotions intelligence systems that forecast customer demand and
optimize promotions strategies across different surfaces.

As a Sr. Research Scientist on the WW Pricing & Promotions Science team, you are
a key influencer in team strategy that impacts the business. You make insightful
contributions to team roadmaps, goals, priorities, and approach. You will work
with a team of scientists and economists to deliver critical solutions to
complex, ambiguous problems. Your research solutions set a strong example for
others. You work efficiently and routinely delivered the right things. You take
a long-term view of the scientific and business objectives, product roadmap,
technologies, and how they should evolve.

The WW Pricing & Promotions Science team is responsible for driving scientific
innovation to support pricing and promotions programs across Amazon's
businesses. We specialize in experimental and observational causal methods,
forecasting, and optimization. We apply these tools to drive business decision
making at scale, leading to launch decisions of new pricing algorithms and new
promotion strategies, understanding short- and long-term value of different
programs, and the prioritization of budget allocations. We also develop models
to set optimal prices and promotions, and define innovative price guardrails and
incentives to optimize for long-term program health.

Requirements

• PhD, or Master's degree and 5+ years of quantitative field research experience
• 5+ years of investigating the feasibility of applying scientific principles and concepts to business problems and products experience
• Experience investigating the feasibility of applying scientific principles and concepts to business problems and products
• Experience communicating qualitative research methods and findings to non-qualitative researchers
• Experience mentoring, coaching, and influencing colleagues, collaborators, and stakeholders
• Knowledge of quantitative approaches (e.g., t-tests, regressions, ANOVAs, etc.)
• Knowledge of R or Python

Nice To Haves

• Experience converting research studies into tangible real-world changes
• Experience with discrete and continuous optimization methodologies and algorithms
• Knowledge of AWS platforms such as S3, Glue, Athena, Sagemaker
• Usage of generative AI tools to enhance workflow efficiency, with a willingness to learn effective prompting and evaluation practices.
• Ability to recognize opportunities where generative AI could enhance products, workflows, or customer experiences.

Responsibilities

• Invent and design new solutions for scientifically-complex problem areas and identify opportunities for invention in existing or new business initiatives
• Expertly frame the scientific approach to solve ambiguous business problems, distinguishing between those that require new solutions and those that can be addressed with existing approaches
• Support go/no-go decisions, and assist leaders in making trade-offs between short- and long-term customer, business, and technology needs
• Drive the team's scientific agenda by proposing new initiatives, building alignment across stakeholders, partners, and leadership
• Lead the writing of internal documents or external publications when appropriate
• Define and prioritize science or engineering specifications for new approaches
• Set the standard and drive the team to adopt best practices
• Consistently deliver significant benefit to the business with limited guidance
• Identify and mitigate technical and integration risks
• Ensure accuracy in your process abstractions, models, and simulation results
• Review model performance during implementation and identify opportunities for improvement
• Collaborate with scientists, economists, scholars, engineers, and business stakeholders to identify problems and design solutions
• Contribute to the professional development of colleagues, improving their technical knowledge and the engineering practices
• Contribute to the broader internal and external scientific communities

Benefits

• 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
• parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level