Director, Embedded Software Engineering, Amazon Leo

Key job responsibilities

• Anticipate bottlenecks, provide escalation management, anticipate and make tradeoffs, and balance the business needs versus technical constraints.
• Develop functional specifications and deliver large, complex projects in a successful and timely manner.
• Work in constrained hardware environments where computing resources are severely limited.
• Define and implement end-to-end embedded software architecture for satellite bus systems.
• Lead development of real-time operating system (RTOS) implementations for spacecraft control, including scheduling algorithms and embedded design patterns.
• Architect Linux OS solutions for satellite systems.
• Drive hardware bring-up processes: boot, hardware verification, and comprehensive testing.
• Design and implement control systems, redundancy management, and health check software.
• Develop and oversee software for custom ASICs and FPGAs used in spacecraft systems.
• Address avionics systems challenges unique to spacecraft operations.
• Lead software development for satellite bus systems, including:
• Flight software and spacecraft control
• Attitude determination and control systems (ADCS)
• Power management and distribution
• Thermal control systems
• Command and data handling
• Fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR)
• Onboard autonomy and health monitoring
• Own systems test strategy and execution for satellite systems, including Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation frameworks.
• Lead on-orbit software testing and validation for operational satellites.
• Establish multi-test environments and continuous test/deployment pipelines.
• Drive software quality from prototype satellites to production at scale.
• Create documentation for worldwide regulatory bodies.
• Work closely with research teams to evaluate and simulate system-level performance.
• Provide technical leadership while meeting aggressive project schedules.
• Drive operational excellence and optimize system performance (e.g., battery usage, resource management).
• Scale the embedded software engineering organization from current state to production needs.
• Hire and develop exceptional embedded software engineers and leaders.
• Manage multiple engineering teams as a leader of leaders (100+ people).
• Foster a culture of innovation, speed, and technical excellence consistent with a "new space" mindset.
• Develop talent pipeline for specialized embedded systems expertise.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related STEM discipline.
• US Citizenship, Permanent Resident (Green Card), or Political Asylum status required.
• Min 10+ years of experience as a manager of managers leading multiple engineering teams.
• Proven track record building and scaling engineering organizations (70+ people).
• Demonstrated ability to grow teams from scratch and scale to production operations.
• Experience managing directors, principal engineers, and senior technical leaders.

Technical Experience

• Min 10+ years of embedded software design and development for mission-critical systems.
• Hands-on experience with embedded software architecture and implementation — must be comfortable conducting architectural reviews and discussing technical implementations directly with engineers.
• Strong Unix/Linux and systems development skills.
• Proven experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) architecture and implementation.
• Deep understanding of embedded software design patterns and best practices.
• Experience with hardware-software integration in constrained environments.
• Track record taking projects from scoping requirements to successful launch.

Software Development Methodology

• "Build quickly" mindset — test on the ground and anticipate how it will work in space.
• Proven ability to balance speed with reliability in aerospace-grade environments.
• Experience with rapid iteration and continuous test/deployment pipelines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with aerospace and avionics systems and techniques for high reliability/robust design.
• Experience leading satellite bus software development — flight software, attitude control, power management, spacecraft systems.
• On-orbit software testing and validation experience for operational satellites ("testing SW on satellites").
• Experience with space-qualified software development and certification processes.
• Understanding of radiation-tolerant computing and fault-tolerant system design.
• Familiarity with spacecraft subsystem integration and testing.
• Experience working on subsystems and subcomponents (not just system integration).
• Experience with laser/optical inter-satellite link (OISL) software development is a strong differentiator.
• Experience developing software for custom ASICs and FPGAs.
• Deep knowledge of scheduling algorithms for real-time systems.
• Expertise in embedded control systems design and implementation.
• Experience with safety-critical software development standards.
• Knowledge of hardware acceleration techniques for embedded systems.
• Familiarity with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation frameworks for spacecraft validation.

Technical Tools & Platforms

• Proficiency with C/C++, ADA (primary languages for flight software).
• Experience with Python, Matlab for simulation and analysis.
• Familiarity with DOORS, JAMA or similar requirements management tools.
• Experience with AWS cloud environments for ground systems integration.
• Knowledge of version control, CI/CD, and automated testing frameworks.

Industry Experience

• Substantial space industry experience (5+ years preferred).
• 10+ years managing products, budgets, and justifying resource needs to senior leaders.
• Background in fast-paced "new space" environments strongly preferred over traditional aerospace.
• 10+ years managing products, budgets, and justifying resource needs to senior leaders and finance partners.