Sr. Software Dev Engineer, Leo AI Foundations
Amazon is hiring a Sr. Software Dev Engineer, Leo AI Foundations. It pays $168k-$227k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this role Builds AI ●●●●: the job is building AI systems.
- The posting mentions AWS, RAG and AI agents among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a senior role.
- Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Architect multi-agent AI systems for autonomous operational intelligence and performance optimization of low Earth orbit satellites.
This role is for a Sr. Software Development Engineer who will design, implement, and operate globally distributed systems that enable Leo to achieve low single-digit-second query responses within a near real-time analytics layer or lakehouse, with a primary focus on agentic AI capabilities for autonomous operational intelligence and system optimization. You'll architect intelligent agent systems that continuously monitor, diagnose, and optimize the health and performance of Leo's satellite constellation, ground gateways, and customer terminals.
You'll build these systems using the latest AWS technologies and best-in-industry software engineering practices, creating the foundation for AI-powered operational intelligence across the Leo network.
Export Control Requirement: 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.
Key job responsibilities
* Architect multi-agent systems that continuously analyze telemetry data from satellites, ground gateways, and customer terminals to detect anomalies, predict failures, and autonomously recommend corrective actions
* Develop intelligent agents capable of reasoning across complex distributed systems to identify root causes of operational issues with minimal human intervention
* Build agentic workflows that autonomously triage system anomalies, escalate critical issues based on severity and impact, and generate actionable insights for operations teams
* Design agent-based frameworks that coordinate workflows across the constellation, enabling collaborative problem-solving between autonomous agents, ground systems, and operations teams
* Implement reinforcement learning-based agents that optimize system performance parameters in real-time based on environmental conditions, network demand, and operational constraints
* Develop natural language interfaces allowing operations teams to query system health status, request analyses, and receive AI-generated recommendations through conversational interactions
* Build RAG systems that combine real-time telemetry with historical operational data, technical documentation, and knowledge bases to provide context-aware insights
* Design hybrid search strategies combining dense vectors with sparse representations for optimal semantic retrieval across operational patterns and system behaviors
* Design and implement evaluation frameworks to measure agent performance, accuracy, and reliability across diverse operational scenarios
* Build automated testing pipelines for agent behavior validation, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end scenario testing
* Establish metrics and monitoring systems to track agent decision quality, response times, and operational impact
* Create feedback loops that continuously improve agent performance through reinforcement learning and human-in-the-loop validation
* Architect and implement a scalable, cost-optimized S3-based Data Lakehouse that unifies structured and unstructured data from disparate sources across the Leo constellation
* Establish metadata management with automated data classification and lineage tracking to support both analytical queries and AI retrieval patterns
* Design and enforce standardized data ingestion patterns with built-in quality controls and validation gates for satellite telemetry, ground station metrics, and customer terminal data
* Architect and implement a scalable, cost-performance-optimized OLAP-based analytics layer capable of achieving low single-digit-second query responses for near real-time analytics
* Lead the design of semantic data models that balance analytical performance with AI retrieval requirements
* Implement cross-domain federated query capabilities with sophisticated query optimization techniques
* Architect a centralized metrics repository that becomes the source of truth for all Leo operational metrics
* Design extensible metrics schemas that support complex analytical queries while optimizing for AI retrieval patterns
* Implement robust data quality frameworks with staging-first policies and automated validation pipelines
* Develop intelligent orchestration for metrics generation workflows with comprehensive audit trails
* Architect a globally distributed vector database infrastructure capable of managing billions of embeddings with consistent sub-100ms retrieval times
* Design and implement hybrid search strategies for optimal semantic retrieval across operational documentation, telemetry patterns, and system knowledge bases
* Establish automated compliance validation frameworks ensuring data handling meets Amazon's security standards and export control requirements
A day in the life
This role is for a Sr. Software Development Engineer who will build new cloud services and APIs that facilitates and orchestrates simulation of software on Leo devices such as satellites, ground gateways, and customer terminals. You will be building low-latency, highly scalable architecture that are critical to getting high quality internet service to customers.
About the team
This role is for a Sr. Software Development Engineer who will build new cloud services and APIs that facilitate and orchestrate the Leo AI Foundations—enabling intelligent software operation across Leo devices such as satellites, ground gateways, and customer terminals. You will design and deliver low-latency, highly scalable architectures that are critical to providing high-quality internet service and AI capabilities to customers.
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
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
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, Redmond - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
How we rate this
Sr. Software Dev Engineer, Leo AI Foundations at Amazon rates 90 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.
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.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- How would you design a retrieval step so the model answers from real data instead of guessing?
- How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning 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 reinforcement learning was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: RAG, AI agents, Machine learning, Distributed Systems, and Reinforcement learning. 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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