Sr Principal Applied Scientist, Last Mile Technology - Routing & Planning Science

The Last Mile (LM) Science organization serves two primary functions: (1) maintaining and enhancing the components which provide the essential intelligence in nearly every LM system, and (2) creating the science which will enable the continued growth of Amazon in the future. The systems used on a daily basis by the Last Mile to deliver packages from the station to the customer’s doorstep contains embedded models developed by the science team, or relies on inputs derived from these models. These models determine how efficiently Amazon can serve its customers and at what cost. The models developed by the Last Mile science team cover every aspect of the delivery process, including service area planning, network capacity management, resource scheduling, sortation and route planning, driver route assignment for optimal performance, and managing any on-road exceptions. These models are applied across multiple programs such as Amazon Logistics (AMZL), Fresh and Whole Foods, AMXL (Heavy & Bulky), Ship with Amazon (SWA), and more. Additionally, they support three delivery channels, namely Delivery Service Partner (DSP), Amazon Flex, and Hub Delivery Partner, and operate in 21 countries using different transportation modes, including driving, walking, and biking. While continually improving the existing operations, the science team must also be at the forefront of defining the future direction for Amazon. Amazon must constantly innovate new ways of servicing our customer better and faster, and improving the experience of delivery associates. Science has a key role in this respect and must be pushing the boundaries to develop more efficient ways of utilizing our existing capacity and resources as well as creating new means of delivery. This include alternative ways of planning routes which can be more efficiently executed by walkers for instance, defining delivery channel topology and partitioning the volume across those channels, or leveraging local knowledge through hyper local delivery channels or empowering route designers to define delivery sequences for complex addresses. This is the type of innovation and continual improvement required to grow the business from delivering 10B packages in 2023 to a projected 15B in 2028.

The Senior Principal Applied Scientist for LM is responsible for providing scientific strategy and vision to guide the direction of the research, influence the business leadership using data-driven analysis, deliver key initiatives across the science organization, and provide leadership to the other scientists. This role tackles the most challenging scientific problems to address complex business needs in the last mile delivery space. These problems are complex due to their scale and real-time nature, which often require combining approaches (i.e., optimization, machine learning, foundational models, heuristics) and techniques from multiple scientific disciplines. Additionally, modeling real-world problems can be difficult, and interpreting the results in a way that influences key stakeholders' decision-making processes adds another layer of complexity.

The Senior Principal Applied Scientist drives the research strategy and deliverables which determines the long-term health and success of our business. This requires a full understanding of the business and the needs of our customers as well as a deep knowledge of the science and how it can be applied to balance the customer and driver experience against the long-term sustainability of the operations and the need for the organization to reduce costs through increased efficiency. In addition to the scientific aspects of the role, the Senior Principal Applied Scientist plays a crucial role in applying a scientific lens to the business decisions made within the last mile to ensures that the right tradeoffs are being made.

The Senior Principal Applied Scientist plays a crucial role in influencing directors and VPs and providing clarity to complex and contentious debates in areas that require one-way decisions. Their goal is to evangelize changes in mental models and drive multi-year research and development investments. The individual in this role generates cutting-edge ideas that form a strong pipeline of innovation, which can take between 1-3 years to identify, productize, and scale. When these ideas are successfully scaled, they create a large uplift for the business. The Senior Principal Applied Scientist additionally looks for and drives ideas and strategic opportunities across other Transportation orgs. The Senior Principal Applied Scientist is expected to publish regularly in internal and external conferences and apply for patents to establish influence within the scientific community.