Software Development Engineer, Amazon Search Navigation AI

Amazon is hiring a Software Development Engineer, Amazon Search Navigation AI in Seattle, United States. It pays $144k-$194k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this software engineer role Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
The posting mentions Python, AWS and Large Language Models among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Amazon has 21,000+ other open roles on Level.
Posted within the past two weeks.

AI in this role

Build and scale distributed services and low-latency real-time LLM inference systems for Amazon Search Navigation AI.

pythonawslarge-language-modelsdistributed-systems

nlpsoftware-developmentdistributed-systemsllm-servingmachine-learning-operations

The Amazon Search Navigation AI team helps customers go from a broad search intent to the few products that fit their needs, so they can make a confident purchase decision. We generate highly relevant, context-aware, and personalized search refinements. We also decide the order they appear in across Amazon's Search Navigation experiences, guiding customers to the most relevant results. The team owns Search Navigation's P0 metrics and defect guardrails, which keep performance and reliability high for hundreds of millions of customers.

We are reinventing search refinement with generative AI. Our recently launched Smart Refinement experience uses large language models (LLMs) served online to turn product specifications into natural-language suggestions that match how customers think, such as "for colder weather" or "lightweight for travel." Each suggestion is personalized to the customer's context. Next, we are building multi-turn, conversational refinement, where each interaction builds on the last and helps customers narrow their intent in fewer steps.

We build and run the engineering systems behind this work, including the Navigation Experience Service (NES). NES connects to Amazon's core search systems, serves more than 3 billion queries worldwide every day, and runs real-time LLM inference at global scale under strict latency and cost limits. Our platform supports launches of new navigation content and UIs, and it makes fast offline and online experimentation possible.

We are looking for a Software Development Engineer who is a pragmatic problem solver, comfortable with ambiguity, and curious about applied science. You will build and improve the Search Navigation platform, including the systems that serve LLMs in real time, and work closely with Applied Scientists to take new models from research into production.

Key job responsibilities
1. Design, build, and operate large-scale, distributed, low-latency services that power Amazon Search Navigation experiences worldwide
2. Build and optimize online LLM serving for Smart Refinement and multi-turn conversational refinement, with a focus on latency, reliability, and cost
3. Work with Applied Scientists, Product Managers, and Program Managers to define requirements and integrate models into production systems
4. Build scalable data pipelines that process large volumes of search and behavioral data for feature generation, model training, and evaluation
5. Design, run, and analyze online A/B experiments to measure the impact of new models and features
6. Contribute to operational excellence for critical services, including monitoring, on-call, and P0 metrics and defect guardrails
7. Write high-quality, well-tested code and take part in design and code reviews

Basic qualifications

- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 3+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- 3+ years of software development engineer or related occupational experience
- 3+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience
- 3+ years of Object Oriented Design experience
- Experience programming with at least one software programming language

Preferred qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
- Experience in developing and deploying LLMs in production on GPUs, Neuron, TPU or other AI acceleration hardware
- Experience in machine learning, data mining, information retrieval, statistics or natural language processing
- Experience with Machine Learning and Large Language Model fundamentals, including architecture, training/inference lifecycles, and optimization of model execution

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

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.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. 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. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, WA, Seattle - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Software Development Engineer, Amazon Search Navigation AI at Amazon rates 95 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● 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

Software Development Engineer, Amazon Search Navigation AI is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $144k-$194k a year.
The role is based in US, WA, Seattle.
The job was posted on October 13, 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

NLPSoftware DevelopmentDistributed SystemsLLM ServingMachine Learning OperationsPythonAWSLarge Language Models

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python AWS AI agents Kubernetes TypeScript RAG

Pay

This job starts at: $144k
Typical software engineer job: $168k

This posting starts 15% below the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

What NLP problem have you worked on, and how did you measure whether it actually worked?
Tell me about a project where software development was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where llm serving was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where machine learning operations was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: NLP, Software Development, Distributed Systems, LLM Serving, and Machine Learning Operations. 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.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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