Engineering Manager - Software/Cloud, RIVR

Amazon is hiring an Engineering Manager - Software/Cloud, RIVR in Zurich, Switzerland. Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Little AI ●○○○ is how Level rates this role: aI is not part of the work.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Yocto, Openembedded and Bitbake.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 21,000+ other open roles at Amazon.
The role was posted within the past two weeks.

AI in this role

Engineering manager leading software and cloud teams for physical AI robotics deployment at RIVR.

yoctoopenembeddedbitbakelinuxaws

software-engineeringcloud-computingroboticsembedded-systemsmanagement

RIVR, part of Amazon is a robotics team pioneering Physical AI through real-world deployment and doorstep deliveries. Founded in 2024 as an ETH Zurich spin-off, RIVR developed wheeled-legged robots designed to operate in complex, unstructured environments such as stairs, gates, doors, and uneven urban terrain. We believe that achieving general physical intelligence requires solving real customer problems in the real world, where robots can learn by gathering rich operational data at scale.

Key job responsibilities
● Design and implement a production-grade Linux distribution from scratch using Yocto/OpenEmbedded.

● Develop and maintain custom Yocto layers, write and patch bitbake recipes, and configure Linux kernels to support specific hardware peripherals.

● Hardware enablement for critical robotics sensors, including GMSL cameras, GPS/GNSS modules, IMUs, and LiDAR.

● Implement and manage robust Over-the-Air (OTA) update solutions to ensure safe and atomic fleet-wide deployments.

● Work closely with hardware engineers to bring up new boards, modify Device Trees, and debug low-level interfaces (I2C, SPI, CAN, UART).

● Profile and optimize the system for boot time, memory footprint, and interrupt latency.

Basic qualifications

- 4+ years of experience formally leading engineering teams, managing sprints, and coaching developers.
- 7+ years of professional experience building and operating large-scale backend systems in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) or microservices context.
- Proven experience architecting solutions on AWS.
- Proven experience operating a complex SOA architecture at scale. Deep familiarity with failure modes in distributed systems and mechanisms to reduce the blast radius of outages and regressions.
- Experience with building and operating ML training infrastructure, integrating it in the SDLC. Experience with handling sensitive data and ensuring its safety and compliance.
- Proven ability to delegate and grow, yet remain connected to the technology details.
- Strong judgement: you identify and call-out one-way doors, you can independently check Senior Engineers’ assumptions and designs, you anticipate the impact and future cost of shortcuts and weight them against your immediate priorities.
- A deep sense of Ownership, a relentless drive to Earn Trust, and a passion for Developing the Best talent.
- Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical ideas clearly to both technical teams and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred qualifications

- Exposure to cloud services communicating with physical edge devices such as robots.
- Background in robotics, IoT, fleet management, or real-time data streaming systems.
- Familiarity with observability tools (OTLP, Grafana, Prometheus) optimized for physical devices experiencing intermittent connectivity.
- Experience with Security topics in the context of cloud systems.
- Experience navigating organizational growth or integrating startup systems into large enterprise environments.

Amazon is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, invent, simplify and build. Protecting your privacy and the security of your data is a longstanding top priority for Amazon. Please consult our Privacy Notice (https://www.amazon.jobs/en/privacy_page) to know more about how we collect, use and transfer the personal data of our candidates.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

How we rate this

Engineering Manager - Software/Cloud, RIVR at Amazon rates 20 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Engineering Manager - Software/Cloud, RIVR is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The role is based in CH, Zurich.
The job was posted on October 21, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Software EngineeringCloud ComputingRoboticsEmbedded SystemsManagementYoctoOpenembeddedBitbake

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where software engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where cloud computing was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where robotics was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where embedded systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where management was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Software Engineering, Cloud Computing, Robotics, Embedded Systems, and Management. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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