Cost Engineering Manager, Cost Engineering

About the role

Amazon builds fast—and behind every new Fulfillment Center, Sortation Center, Delivery Station, and capital investment is a critical question: Are we buying the right solution at the right price? The Cost & Value Engineering Manager partners with Amazon’s North America Engineering, Design, and Operations stakeholders to deliver equipment cost engineering and value engineering services that optimize equipment design, validate costs, and inform capital investment decisions across Amazon’s fulfillment network. The role involves developing bottom‑up cost estimates, should‑cost models, and Value Engineering analyses for a diverse portfolio of material handling equipment (MHE), automation, and auxiliary equipment, including conveyance, chutes, platforms, mezzanines, and related fulfillment systems. The manager works from early concepts through supplier selection and implementation, applying technical engineering expertise to balance cost, quality, performance, and operational requirements while collaborating with AI and Market Intelligence Solutions to accelerate analysis and develop scalable cost intelligence.

Responsibilities

• Deliver independent, bottom‑up cost estimates for material handling equipment, automation, auxiliary equipment, and capital investment projects across Amazon’s global fulfillment portfolio.
• Develop cost estimates from early‑stage equipment concepts through supplier selection and implementation, adapting methodologies to project information and design maturity.
• Build and maintain scalable estimating models and templates; create detailed bottom‑up cost models for complex, site‑specific initiatives.
• Perform should‑cost modeling, benchmarking, and Value Engineering analyses to evaluate design alternatives, optimize specifications, identify cost drivers, and ensure Amazon purchases the right solution at the right price.
• Leverage AI‑powered tools to automate data gathering, cost modeling, benchmarking, and pattern recognition while applying engineering judgment to validate outputs.
• Drive development of scalable AI‑enabled cost intelligence solutions by curating equipment and market data, validating model performance, and identifying automation opportunities.
• Partner with Engineering, Design, Operations, Procurement, Category Management, and business stakeholders to validate assumptions, communicate cost risks, evaluate alternatives, and influence sourcing and investment decisions.
• Peer‑review cost models, estimates, and Value Engineering recommendations to ensure technical rigor, consistency, and alignment with market conditions and best practices.

About the team

The Sourcing Excellence team helps Amazon answer two fundamental questions: Are we buying the right product? (Value Engineering) and Are we paying the right price? (Cost Engineering). Value Engineering optimizes specifications, design, materials, and performance of material handling equipment, automation, and auxiliary equipment to maximize business value while meeting operational requirements. Cost Engineering provides cost transparency and price confidence through bottom‑up estimation, should‑cost modeling, benchmarking, market intelligence, and cost driver analysis. Together, these disciplines deliver fact‑based insights that enable informed sourcing, design, and investment decisions throughout the equipment lifecycle. The team currently supports billions of dollars in managed spend and is scaling its impact through AI‑enabled solutions, standardized mechanisms, and cross‑functional partnerships.

Basic qualifications

• 3+ years of project/program management experience.
• 3+ years of cross‑functional experience working with non‑technical teams.
• 3+ years of defining and implementing process improvement initiatives using data and metrics.
• Advanced knowledge of Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP) and SQL.
• Experience defining and executing program requirements and using data and metrics to determine improvements.
• Experience in cost engineering, value engineering, equipment engineering, manufacturing engineering, automation, material handling equipment, capital projects, or related technical disciplines (e.g., Cost Engineer, Value Engineer, Equipment Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Automation Engineer, Design Engineer, Systems Engineer, or similar).

Preferred qualifications

• 3+ years of end‑to‑end delivery experience and communicating results to senior leadership.
• 3+ years of driving process improvements.
• Strong stakeholder management experience with multiple stakeholders at varied organizational levels.
• Experience building processes, project management plans, and schedules.
• Experience designing, engineering, or developing material handling equipment, automation systems, or auxiliary equipment such as conveyance, chutes, platforms, mezzanines, or related fulfillment equipment.

Pay

• USA, TN, Nashville: $77,200 – $115,800 USD annually
• USA, TX, Houston: $85,800 – $128,600 USD annually
• USA, VA, Arlington: $85,800 – $128,600 USD annually
• USA, WA, Bellevue: $85,800 – $128,600 USD annually

Benefits

Amazon offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription), Basic Life & AD&D insurance with optional supplemental life plans, Employee Assistance Program, mental health support, medical advice line, Flexible Spending Accounts, adoption and surrogacy reimbursement coverage, 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. The total compensation package may also include sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs), with final compensation determined by experience, qualifications, and location.