Principal Data Scientist AI Context Architect (Semantic & Context Engineering)

Career Category

Job Description

Join Amgens Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen if you feel like youre part of something bigger its because you are. Our shared missionto serve patients living with serious illnessesdrives all that we do.

Since 1980 weve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the worlds toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas Oncology Inflammation General Medicine and Rare Disease we reach millions of patients each year. As a member of the Amgen team youll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research manufacture and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative innovative and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them youll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Principal Data Scientist

What you will do

Lets do this. Lets change the this vital role you will serve as a senior individual-contributor authority onsemantic modeling context engineering and AI-first data scienceenabling high-performing classical ML reinforcement learninginformed approaches and generative AI systems throughwell-architected context.

This role functions as anAI Context Architect(titled as a Data Scientist): asemantic architectwho can define domain entities (e.g. payer provider patient product site indication) and the relationships between them so thatdata contextreliably drive model reasoning retrieval and downstream decisions. You will design the semantic foundations that make AI systems accurate explainable governable and performantpartnering with engineering product security/compliance and domain teams acrossR&D Manufacturing and Commercial

Roles & Responsibilities

Semantic architecture & AI-first context modeling

• Define enterprise-grade semantic representationsfor healthcare/life-sciences concepts and specifyhow relationships and interactionsare represented for AI consumption.
• Create and maintainsemantic schemas / ontologies / knowledge-graph modelsthat describe entities attributes constraints and linkagesoptimized for both analytics and AI reasoning.
• Establishcontext engineering standards: how data is shaped into prompts tools memory retrieval indices and structured outputs so models behave consistently across use cases.

Feature engineering & model performance (core emphasis)

• Leadfeature engineering strategy tied directly to model performance including feature definition transformations leakage prevention stability monitoring and explainability.
• Perform exploratory data analysis on complex high-dimensional datasets to identify predictive signals andcontext variablesthat improve model robustness and generalization.

Context-aware ML GenAI and reinforcement learninginformed approaches

• Build and evaluatecontext-aware ML/GenAI solutions integrating semantic layers with retrieval tools and structured outputs.
• Applyreinforcement learning concepts(reward modeling policy optimization intuition offline evaluation exploration/exploitation framing) to improve decisioning ranking orchestration and system behaviorwithout overfitting to short-term metrics.
• Prototype and benchmark algorithms and approaches (classical ML deep learning LLM-based reasoning) and advise onscalability and production readiness.

Retrieval knowledge and governance foundations

• Architect and implementretrieval and memory patterns(RAG vector stores knowledge graphs session memory).
• Definedata quality and semantic quality gates(entity completeness relationship validity taxonomy drift grounding coverage) that impact downstream model reliability.

Cross-functional leadership

• Translate domain needs intosemantic AI roadmaps aligning stakeholders on definitions metrics and tradeoffs.
• Act as a principal-level mentor and technical leader: establish standards review semantic designs and guide teams on best practices for context engineering and feature excellence.

What we expect of you

We are all different yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The professional we seek will have these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree and 2 years of Data Science Computer Science Statistics Applied Math or related experience

Or

Masters degree and 4 years of Data Science Computer Science Statistics Applied Math or related experience

Or

Bachelors degree and 6 years of Data Science Computer Science Statistics Applied Math or related experience

Or

Associates degree and 10 years of Data Science Computer Science Statistics Applied Math or related experience

Or

High school diploma / GED and 12 years of Data Science Computer Science Statistics Applied Math or related experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• 1012 yearsapplying data science in enterprise environments with demonstrated principal-level influence (or equivalent depth of expertise).
• Deep expertise insemantic modeling: ontologies taxonomies entity resolution knowledge graphs metadata and data contractsbuilt for operational use.
• Strong understanding ofmachine learning fundamentalsand performance drivers especiallyfeature engineeringand evaluation rigor.
• Practical experience implementingRAG / retrieval / vector search / knowledge graphsolutions with clear governance patterns.
• Working knowledge ofreinforcement learning conceptsand how they apply to ranking orchestration personalization or decision systems (even if not pure RL production).
• Proficiency inPython(and strong comfort with modern data/ML stacks); ability to collaborate effectively with engineering teams on production concerns.
• Exceptional stakeholder management: can drive alignment on relationships and metrics and communicate tradeoffs clearly.

Good-to-Have Skills

• Experience inbiotech/pharmaand healthcare commercial concepts (payer/provider dynamics formulary/coverage).
• Familiarity with agentic/tool-using LLM patterns prompt management and structured outputs.
• Experience with feature stores ML observability and robust evaluation tooling.
• Publications conference talks or thought leadership in semantic AI / knowledge systems / enterprise GenAI.

Soft Skills:

• Excellent analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with global virtual teams
• High degree of initiative and self-motivation.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities successfully.
• Team-oriented with a focus on achieving team goals.
• Ability to learn quickly be organized and detail oriented.
• Strong presentation and public speaking skills.

Certifications

• Cloud/AI certifications (AWS/Azure/GCP) are a plus.

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture well support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to relevant skills experience and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan based on eligibility comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals work/life balance and career development opportunities that may include:

• A comprehensive employee benefits package including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions group medical dental and vision coverage life and disability insurance and flexible spending accounts
• A discretionary annual bonus program or for field sales representatives a sales-based incentive plan
• Stock-based long-term incentives
• Award-winning time-off plans
• Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.

In any materials you submit you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age date of birth or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Application deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of diverse ethical committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin protected veteran status disability status or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process to perform essential job functions and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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