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Principal Applied Scientist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

NextDeavor Inc.

Principal Applied Scientist

New York, NY · Hybrid

$200K - $250K/yr

Principal Applied Scientist Full-time New York City, NY, US Exclusive confidential search -- details shared with qualified applicants. Benefits You'll Love * Top-tier medical, dental, and vision ...

NextDeavor Inc.

Principal Applied Scientist

New York, NY · On-site

$200K - $250K/yr

Principal Applied Scientist Full-time New York City, NY, US Exclusive confidential search -- details shared with qualified applicants. Benefits You'll Love * Top-tier medical, dental, and vision ...

Designworks Talent

Principal Applied Scientist

Seattle, WA · On-site

$250K - $350K/yr

Key Responsibilities Our client is looking for a collaborative and forward-thinking Principal Applied Scientist to join their Seattle-based AI team. In this role, your work will drive the research ...

Microsoft

Principal Applied Scientist

Redmond, WA · On-site

We are looking for a Principal Applied Scientist, Agent Foundry (CoreAI) who is passionate about translating AI research into customer impact, with a deep understanding of observability and ...

Upstart

OR

As a Principal Applied Scientist at Upstart, you will help define the long-term technical direction for some of Upstart's most important offer optimization and conversion modeling systems. You will ...

Designworks Talent

Principal Applied Scientist

Seattle, WA · Remote

$250K - $350K/yr

Key Responsibilities Our client is looking for a collaborative and forward-thinking Principal Applied Scientist to join their Seattle-based AI team. In this role, your work will drive the research ...

Microsoft

Principal Applied Scientist

Redmond, WA · On-site

We are seeking a Principal Applied Scientist and Technical Lead to drive the science vision, technical strategy, and execution for relevance, intent understanding, personalization, recommendation ...

Microsoft

Principal Applied Scientist

Redmond, WA · On-site

As a Principal Applied Scientist , you'll lead the science behind Discover's ranking and content-quality stack, combining LLMs, multimodal models, and large-scale recommender systems to drive ...

Microsoft

Principal Applied Scientist

Redmond, WA · On-site

Overview The Microsoft AI Web Data team is looking for a highly qualified Principal Applied Scientist to help build the next-generation platform for Bing and Microsoft AI. The Microsoft AI Web Data ...

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Principal Applied Scientist information

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$68.5K

$144K

$190.5K

How much do principal applied scientist jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 4, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal applied scientist in the United States is $144,009.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $117,500.00 and $169,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

How does a principal applied scientist typically collaborate with cross-functional teams in a tech organization?

Principal Applied Scientists often work closely with data engineers, product managers, and software developers to translate business objectives into innovative machine learning solutions. They are usually responsible for guiding technical direction, mentoring junior scientists, and ensuring that research prototypes are scalable for production. Regular collaboration involves participating in strategy meetings, code reviews, and presenting research findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Effective communication and leadership skills are crucial for aligning scientific advancements with broader organizational goals.

What is a principal applied scientist?

Principal Applied Scientists are senior-level experts who lead the development and application of advanced scientific and analytical techniques to solve complex real-world problems. They often work in industries such as technology, healthcare, or engineering, using their expertise in areas like machine learning, data science, or physics. In addition to conducting research, Principal Applied Scientists guide project teams, mentor junior scientists, and help shape the strategic direction of scientific initiatives within an organization.

What is the difference between Principal Applied Scientist vs Senior Data Scientist?

AspectPrincipal Applied ScientistSenior Data Scientist
Required CredentialsAdvanced degrees (PhD or Master’s), extensive experience in applied researchTypically a Master’s or PhD, strong analytical skills, less emphasis on applied research leadership
Work EnvironmentResearch-focused, leadership in projects, cross-functional collaborationData analysis, model development, supporting business decisions
Employer & Industry UsageTech companies, R&D departments, AI/ML teamsTech firms, finance, healthcare, more operational roles

The Principal Applied Scientist is a senior role emphasizing leadership in applied research and innovation, often requiring advanced degrees and extensive experience. In contrast, a Senior Data Scientist focuses more on data analysis and model building with less emphasis on research leadership. Both roles are common in tech and industry settings, but the Principal Applied Scientist typically leads projects and guides research strategies.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a principal applied scientist, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Applied Scientist, you need deep expertise in data science, statistical modeling, machine learning, and typically a PhD or advanced degree in a quantitative field. Proficiency with programming languages like Python or R, cloud platforms, and frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch is commonly required. Exceptional problem-solving abilities, leadership, and the capacity to communicate complex concepts to diverse stakeholders distinguish top performers in this role. These skills are crucial for driving innovation, leading technical teams, and delivering impactful solutions to complex business challenges.
More about Principal Applied Scientist jobs
What states have the most Principal Applied Scientist jobs? States with the most job openings for Principal Applied Scientist jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Principal Applied Scientist jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Principal Applied Scientist jobs are:
Principal Applied Scientist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Principal Applied Scientist job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 75% Full Time, 24% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $144,009 per year, or $69.2 per hour.

Principal Applied Scientist

NextDeavor Inc.

New York, NY • Hybrid

$200K - $250K/yr

Contractor

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Re-posted 23 days ago

Job description

Principal Applied Scientist
Full-time
New York City, NY, US
Exclusive confidential search — details shared with qualified applicants.
 
Benefits You'll Love
  • Top-tier medical, dental, and vision coverage
  • 401(k)
Become a Key Player as a Principal Applied Scientist

You will own the deterministic enforcement layer that guarantees compliance before AI messages are sent, driving accuracy, cost, and latency tradeoffs. You will work as the senior individual contributor on this layer, collaborating directly with the founder and backend engineers to define technical direction. Hybrid (3 days onsite) in the New York City area.

Here's How You'll Make an Impact on the Team
  • Own the deterministic detection and enforcement layer end to end: rule system, retrieval, matching logic, and production runtime
  • Build the evaluation harness and labeled-data flywheel to demonstrate and improve accuracy
  • Measure and optimize precision, recall, cost, and latency, and balance tradeoffs between them
  • Define architecture direction for the deterministic layer alongside model and retrieval components
  • Translate plain-language policy and regulation into deterministic rules and own the reasoning behind each decision
  • Adapt rules to customer-specific policies, including per-tenant configuration
  • Run tight error analysis on missed violations and false alarms to improve trust and performance
Here's What You'll Need to Be Successful in This Role
  • 8+ years in applied ML, NLP, or high-accuracy detection systems with shipped production work
  • Hands-on experience in information retrieval, entity recognition, pattern and rule design, and rigorous evaluation
  • Proven judgment as a senior individual contributor who sets technical direction
  • Strong instincts for when deterministic rules outperform models and how to push precision and recall
  • Bias for shipping and for measuring outcomes of what you ship
Here's What Else Might Help You Out
  • Experience in compliance, regtech, or other regulated domains
  • Building high-precision/high-recall detection or classification systems (fraud, security, content moderation, etc.)
  • Experience adapting a rule system to many customers (per-tenant policy/configuration)
  • Experience combining deterministic and model-based components in production
  • Public research, open source contributions, or technical writing
Pay Range

$200-$250K/year

Ready to Make Your Mark?

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