Sr. Software Development Engineer AI/ML, Inference Model Enablement, AWS Neuron

Amazon is hiring a Sr. Software Development Engineer AI/ML, Inference Model Enablement, AWS Neuron in Cupertino, United States. It pays $193k-$262k 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.
Pay on this posting starts 16% higher than the typical software engineer posting on Level.
The posting mentions vLLM, Java and C 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

Design and optimize state-of-the-art LLMs for high-performance inference on AWS Trainium hardware stack.

vLLMJavaCAWS Trainium

object-oriented-designperformance-optimizationdistributed-systemsmachine-learning-accelerationinference-optimization

We develop AWS Neuron, the complete software stack for Trainium, Amazon's custom cloud-scale machine learning accelerators. Join us to optimize the latest models to run really fast on the Trainium hardware.

As a Sr. Software Development Engineer on the Inference Model Enablement team, you will onboard and optimize state-of-the-art open-source and customer LLMs, both dense and MoE, for inference on Trainium accelerators. You will also drive improvements in model enablement speed and experience, while advancing inference usability and quality through inference features, infrastructure optimization, tools, and automation.

Key job responsibilities
* Deliver high-performance models using distributed inference libraries
* Drive technical excellence in performance optimization and system reliability across the Neuron ecosystem
* Mentor team members and provide technical leadership across multiple work streams
* Drive architectural decisions that impact the entire Neuron serving stack
* Collaborate with customers, product owners, and engineering teams to define technical strategy
* Author technical documentation, design proposals, and architectural guidelines

A day in the life
You'll lead critical technical initiatives while mentoring team members. You'll collaborate with cross-functional teams of applied scientists, system engineers, and product managers to architect and deliver state-of-the-art inference capabilities. Your day might involve:

* Leading design reviews and architectural discussions
* Debugging complex performance issues across the stack in collaboration with the compiler and runtime teams
* Mentoring junior engineers on system design and model optimization across model enablement teams
* Driving technical decisions that shape the future of Neuron's inference stack

About the team
The inference model enablement team releases its models in the vLLM Neuron plugin: https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm-neuron

Basic 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 full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team

Preferred qualifications

- Master's degree in computer science or equivalent
- 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.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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, CA, Cupertino - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Sr. Software Development Engineer AI/ML, Inference Model Enablement, AWS Neuron 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.

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

Sr. Software Development Engineer AI/ML, Inference Model Enablement, AWS Neuron is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $193k-$262k a year.
The role is based in US, CA, Cupertino.
The job was posted on July 29, 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

Object Oriented DesignPerformance OptimizationDistributed SystemsMachine Learning AccelerationInference OptimizationvLLMJavaC

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python AI agents Kubernetes Generative AI TypeScript RAG

Pay

This job starts at: $193k
Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting starts 16% above the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where object oriented design was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where performance optimization 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 machine learning acceleration was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where inference optimization was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Object Oriented Design, Performance Optimization, Distributed Systems, Machine Learning Acceleration, and Inference Optimization. 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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