Senior Software Development Engineer (Payload SW), STAR (System Test Automation and Regression)

About the role

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network delivering fast, reliable internet connectivity to customers beyond the reach of existing networks. Behind every satellite in our constellation is a payload - the communication system that makes connectivity possible. Before a single satellite reaches orbit, its payload software must be validated, stressed, and proven through rigorous automated testing.

Responsibilities

• Architect and drive development of automated test frameworks for satellite communication systems, focusing on end-to-end validation and system integration testing of payload software.
• Develop deep expertise in payload software architecture—signal processing chains, protocol stacks, resource management, and fault handling—to define test strategies that exercise real operational scenarios at scale.
• Lead technical roadmap definition efforts and decide what features and performance improvements to build.
• Own CI/CD pipeline architecture that triggers automated regression suites on every payload software change, providing rapid feedback to development teams.
• Collaborate with engineers across the organization (payload software, systems engineering, RF, operations) to gather requirements, define test strategies, and identify gaps in coverage.
• Design and develop complex test sequences that coordinate and synchronize equipment and services across multiple layers to verify function and performance of satellite hardware and software.
• Create dashboards and monitoring tools for system health, test pass rates, and data pipeline integrity.
• Analyze test results, identify systemic failure patterns, and drive architectural improvements to increase test coverage and reliability.
• Mentor engineers on the team and establish best practices, coding standards, and design patterns.
• Lead design reviews, code reviews, and technical discussions to raise the quality bar across the team.
• Influence technical direction beyond the immediate team, driving alignment across dependent systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of programming using a modern programming language such as Java, C++, or C#, including object-oriented design experience
• 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
• 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
• Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
• 3+ years of test automation frameworks and tools building experience

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
• Knowledge of professional software engineering & best practices for full software development life cycle, including coding standards, software architectures, code reviews, source control management, continuous deployments, testing, and operational excellence
• Experience building data pipelines or automated ETL processes
• Experience in communication theory, OFDM, MIMO, Digital/Wireless Communication Systems or RF engineering
• 3+ months of distributed systems experience, or Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or equivalent
• Experience collaborating and influencing multiple teams across multiple organizations
• Experience developing and executing/delivering product and technical roadmaps influencing internal and external stakeholders
• Knowledge of networking including the OSI model and how satellite payload communication systems operate
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test environments

Benefits

Base salary range: $168,100.00 - $227,400.00 USD annually
Location: Los Angeles County, CA, NORTHRIDGE; San Diego, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Redmond, WA
Sign-on payments and RSUs included in compensation package