About the Company

Amgen is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative medicines for serious illnesses. Since 1980, the company has advanced biotechnology research and developed treatments across areas including heart disease, obesity and related conditions, rare diseases, inflammatory conditions, and cancer. Its work is guided by a mission to serve patients through scientific innovation, collaboration, and responsible development of new therapies.

About the Role

Amgen is seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer to join its Artificial Intelligence & Data Innovation Lab. This team explores emerging technologies and develops AI solutions that demonstrate measurable business value and can progress toward enterprise adoption. In this role, you will lead AI initiatives from early business discovery through proof of concept (PoC), combining hands-on engineering with technical leadership. Working closely with business leaders, product managers, and engineering teams, you will identify opportunities, assess feasibility, and build solutions using generative AI, large language models (LLMs), agentic workflows, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). You will also establish scalable architectures, address security and performance requirements, and mentor engineers as successful prototypes move toward production-ready enterprise solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Work with business leaders and teams to understand workflows, challenges, and objectives, identify AI opportunities, and define measurable outcomes. Lead cross-functional teams in translating business opportunities into well-scoped AI initiatives with clear priorities, technical approaches, success criteria, and adoption plans. Architect and build AI proof-of-concept solutions using LLMs, agentic workflows, RAG, data pipelines, APIs, cloud-native services, and enterprise platforms. Take hands-on ownership of complex technical work throughout AI solution development. Evaluate technical feasibility and business value through experimentation, considering data readiness, integration, user experience, security, compliance, performance, cost, and operational requirements. Make architectural decisions that support the transition from successful PoCs to scalable enterprise applications. Develop reusable components, technical documentation, decision records, and handoff materials for product and platform teams. Establish engineering standards and guide design decisions, delivery practices, and technical problem-solving. Mentor engineers and promote clear ownership, accountability, and collaboration across teams.

Required Qualifications

One of the following combinations of education and Machine Learning Engineer experience: Doctorate degree and at least 2 years of Machine Learning Engineer experience. Master's degree and at least 6 years of Machine Learning Engineer experience. Bachelor's degree and at least 8 years of Machine Learning Engineer experience. Associate's degree and at least 10 years of Machine Learning Engineer experience. High school diploma or GED and at least 12 years of Machine Learning Engineer experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Substantial experience in machine learning and software engineering, including senior technical ownership of applications that have progressed beyond the prototype or pilot stage. Strong full-stack development skills, including Python, API development, application back ends, user interfaces, data integration, and modern software design. Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as AWS and DevOps practices, including Terraform or similar infrastructure-as-code tools, containers, CI/CD, automated deployment, and observability. Practical knowledge of generative AI and machine learning application design, including model selection, evaluation, inference, and the trade-offs between managed services, open-source tools, and custom implementations. Experience with enterprise architecture and integration patterns, including access controls, sensitive-data handling, reliability, performance, and maintainability. Experience developing AI evaluation approaches using quantitative and qualitative evidence to assess solution quality, user experience, safety, latency, and cost. Strong software engineering practices, including automated testing, version control, modular design, code reviews, documentation, and effective use of AI development tools. Demonstrated technical leadership through architecture decisions, mentorship, and collaboration with business, product, engineering, security, and platform teams. At least 2 years of experience directly leading teams, projects, or programs, or directing resource allocation. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present technical options and trade-offs to technical and business audiences. Location & Work Arrangement This is a remote position. Amgen notes that flexible work models are available where applicable; candidates should refer to the work location type specified in the posting. The role is based in the United States, excluding Puerto Rico, for the stated salary information. Visa sponsorship is not guaranteed. Salary & Benefits Amgen provides a total rewards package, subject to eligibility, that includes health and welfare benefits, financial planning options, work-life balance support, and career development opportunities. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage; life and disability insurance; flexible spending accounts; a retirement and savings plan with company contributions; a discretionary annual bonus or applicable sales-based incentive plan; stock-based long-term incentives; and time-off programs. The company also offers flexible work models where applicable. The expected annual salary range is referenced in the original posting, but no specific figures were provided in the supplied description. Equal Opportunity & Accessibility Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or other characteristics protected by applicable law. The company provides reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities in accordance with legal requirements. Applicants may remove age-identifying information, such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation, from submitted materials without penalty. Applications will be accepted until Amgen receives a sufficient number or selects a candidate for the position.