Sr Software Development Engineer, Amazon Leo OISL

Amazon LEO is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world.

About the role

We are seeking a Senior Software Development Engineer to help architect and build a ground-based optical communication system that enables high-speed data transfer between satellites and ground stations. This role sits at the intersection of embedded systems, networking, cloud infrastructure, and remote operations, and requires a versatile engineer who can work across the full stack from hardware-adjacent firmware to cloud-based orchestration and remote monitoring.

You will own the design and implementation of software systems that control, monitor, and manage optical ground terminals, including real-time device control, network integration, remote management, and cloud-based operations infrastructure. This is a greenfield opportunity to shape the architecture of a critical system from the ground up.

Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.

Responsibilities

• Architect and develop software for ground-based optical communication terminals, spanning embedded control systems, networking stacks, and cloud infrastructure.
• Design and implement remote management and monitoring systems for geographically distributed ground terminal deployments.
• Develop networking solutions for high-throughput optical data paths, including integration with broader network infrastructure.
• Build cloud-based operations platforms for fleet management, telemetry, alarming, and performance monitoring.
• Design and implement infrastructure-as-code for automated deployment, configuration management, and scaling of ground systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including optical, electrical, firmware, mechanical, and systems engineers.
• Define system architecture, interfaces, and protocols for ground terminal software subsystems.
• Develop fault-tolerant, highly available systems capable of autonomous operation in remote environments.
• Own full lifecycle delivery from requirements through deployment and ongoing operations.

A day in the life

As a Software Engineer on the Optical Inter-Satellite Link team, you won't just write code - you'll see it in action. Your software will control and monitor high-speed laser communications between ground and satellites that moving at orbital velocities, and you'll be there for every stage of the journey: from early design and on-the-ground verifications to watching your code enable high throughput communications.

About the team

You will join a multi-disciplinary team of top-notch engineers whose work spans an unusually wide aperture: embedded flight software running on satellites in orbit, cloud-based systems powering mission and network operations, automation frameworks that keep a growing constellation healthy, and AI-driven capabilities that make our optical links smarter with every orbit. We collaborate closely with optical, electrical, firmware, opto-mechanical, and operations teams — and with partner organizations including Mission Operations and Optical Network Operations — to deliver one of the most advanced optical communication systems ever built.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
• 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
• 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
• Experience working with networking fundamentals or Internet protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, SSL, DNS, HTTP/S, or equivalent
• Experience in one or more of: C, C++, Python, or Rust
• Experience with Linux systems programming (kernel, drivers, networking stack, or system services)
• Experience with cloud services (AWS preferred) including compute, storage, networking, and monitoring

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
• Experience in embedded development in C/C++, or experience with general troubleshooting/debugging of hardware
• Experience in automating, deploying, and supporting infrastructure
• Experience in Network protocols like DNS/DHCP/TCP, or experience in Kafka and experience in Linux OS and network troubleshooting
• Experience in networking administration and troubleshooting, or experience in managing and troubleshooting network and experience with automation and any version control tools
• Experience with hardware/software integration and real-time systems
• Experience with optical or RF communication systems, modems, or signal processing
• Experience with remote device management at scale (OTA updates, fleet provisioning, configuration management)
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS) for edge or remote deployments
• Experience with monitoring and observability systems (CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, or similar)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and deployment automation for embedded or infrastructure systems
• Experience working in aerospace, telecommunications, or other mission-critical environments

Pay

USA, CA, NORTHRIDGE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

USA, WA, Redmond - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location.

Benefits

• Health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Mental Health Support
• Medical Advice Line
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage
• 401(k) matching
• Paid time off
• Parental leave

Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.