Principal AI Scientist, Telco Tech, AWS Industries

Description: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is seeking a world-class Principal AI Scientist to lead cutting-edge research and development at the intersection of artificial intelligence and telecommunications network infrastructure. In this role, you will pioneer AI-native approaches to network modeling, reasoning, and optimization — shaping how the world’s largest telecommunications operators harness AI to build, operate, and evolve next-generation networks. You will serve as the technical thought leader for network-domain AI science within AWS’s telecommunications practice — defining strategy, driving research, and delivering production-ready solutions that unlock transformative business value for Tier-1 operators. This includes developing novel network models, ontologies, and AI architectures purpose-built for the telecommunications domain, and translating them into scalable offerings on the AWS platform. This is a high-visibility role requiring deep hands-on expertise in building, training, and evaluating AI/ML models at scale, combined with mastery of telecommunications network architectures, protocols, and data systems. You will drive AI-Native 6G co-development with customers and represent AWS as a thought leader in global industry forums. Key job responsibilities • Lead end-to-end research and development of AI models for telecommunications networks — from architecture design, training methodology, and evaluation through optimization and production deployment on AWS. • Design and develop network ontologies, knowledge graphs, and semantic representations that enable AI systems to reason over complex, multi-vendor, multi-domain network topologies. • Develop and apply graph neural networks (GNNs), foundation models, transformer architectures, and other advanced AI techniques to network telemetry, configuration, and operational data. • Drive AI-Native 6G co-development with Tier-1 telecommunications operators — translating their network AI challenges into research programs, proof-of-concept engagements, and scalable production solutions. • Represent AWS as a technical thought leader in global industry forums and standards bodies — shaping the direction of AI for networks, publishing research, and positioning AWS as the platform of choice. • Build deep partnerships with AWS Service Teams to integrate network AI capabilities into the broader AWS AI/ML and infrastructure platform. • Author and deliver strategic narratives, science papers, and technical documents for AWS leadership and customer executives. • Design privacy-preserving, distributed model training approaches that enable operators to leverage sensitive network data without centralization. • Collaborate across a multidisciplinary team to support customer engagements, industry co-innovation programs, and developer scaling initiatives. • Mentor and influence a community of Solutions Architects, Field Development Engineers, and partner engineers on AI/ML best practices for telecommunications. A day in the life You start your morning reviewing results from a model training run on network telemetry data. By mid-morning, you’re whiteboarding a novel architecture with AWS service team engineers. After lunch, you join a call with a Tier-1 operator’s CTO to scope a joint research initiative on autonomous network operations. In the afternoon, you draft a section of a strategic narrative for leadership, translating your research into business impact. You end the day reviewing a paper submission for an industry working group — knowing your science is shaping how the world builds 6G networks. About the team This role sits within AWS’s Telecommunications practice, working at the frontier of AI-Native networking with Tier-1 global operators. The team co-develops next-generation network AI solutions in partnership with the world’s leading telecommunications companies and industry bodies, spanning network intelligence, autonomous operations, and 6G research. This is a high-impact position with direct access to AWS leadership and senior customer executives. You will shape a multi-year technology and business strategy driving bleeding-edge data and AI research and development for the telecommunications industry. About the team Diverse Experiences AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying. Why AWS? Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses. Inclusive Team Culture Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (diversity) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness. Mentorship & Career Growth We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional. Work/Life Balance We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud. Minimum qualifications - 10+ years of specific technology domain areas (e.g. software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, data & analytics) experience - Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics or equivalent - Experience developing technology solutions and evangelising end-to-end technology roadmaps that guide IT transformations toward cloud computing - Experience communicating across technical and non-technical audiences and at C-level, including training, workshops, publications Preferred qualifications - Knowledge of distributed systems design and implementation or equivalent - Knowledge of large scale automation and workflow management or equivalent - Knowledge of database design and implementation or equivalent - Knowledge of presentations and whiteboarding skills with a high degree of comfort speaking with internal and external executives, IT management, and developers - Experience architecting, migrating, transforming or modernizing customer requirements to the cloud 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 . USA, CA, Cupertino - 210,200.00 - 284,300.00 USD annually USA, NY, New York - 201,000.00 - 272,000.00 USD annually USA, TX, Dallas - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually USA, WA, Bellevue - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually