Sr Software Development Engineer, Neuron Collectives, Annapurna Labs

Amazon is hiring a Sr Software Development Engineer, Neuron Collectives, Annapurna Labs 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

Builds AI ●●●● is how Level rates this software engineer role: the job is building AI systems.
Pay on this posting starts 16% higher than the typical software engineer posting on Level.
The posting mentions C, Neuron Explorer and distributed systems 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

Optimize collective operations and algorithms for AWS Trainium to scale AI training workloads across data centers.

CNeuron Explorer

distributed-systemsfirmwareoptimizationllmai-infrastructure

Annapurna Labs is an integral part of AWS and develops hardware and software components that are critical building blocks for EC2 infrastructure. We specialize in designing software, systems and chips that optimize the AWS customer experience.

The AWS Neuron Collectives team is seeking a Software Engineer to optimize collective operations for AWS Trainium. Trainium is one of Amazon's highest priority initiatives, powering the frontier AI models being trained today.
Collectives are the critical operations that scale AI compute across the data center. You'll work in depth to optimize compute for the specific topologies used to train modern LLMs. Working closely with the hardware team, you'll push for maximum performance using C/C++, interfacing with DMA and firmware and investigating detailed topologies.
You'll analyze current collective algorithms using publicly accessible tools like Neuron Explorer and optimize these to fully utilize compute and bus bandwidth to scale across the data center. This is a unique opportunity to impact how AI training runs at AWS scale, while growing your technical breadth and depth.

Key job responsibilities

As a Neuron Collectives Software Developer, you will:

* Enhance collective algorithms and topologies for optimal training performance
* Use tools like Neuron Explorer to identify bottlenecks in compute and bus bandwidth utilization
* Monitor and analyze processor, DMA, firmware, and workload metrics
* Optimize collective operations to scale AI compute across the data center
* Work closely with the hardware team to co-optimize software and Trainium silicon
* Develop and optimize C/C++ implementations of collective communication patterns
* Investigate and implement improvements for specific training topologies used by modern LLMs
* Build and maintain analysis frameworks and automation solutions

The role offers opportunities to work on cutting-edge AI training hardware while contributing to one of Amazon's most critical initiatives.

A day in the life
Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, we embrace our differences. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion. We have ten employee-led affinity groups, reaching 40,000 employees in over 190 chapters globally. We have innovative benefit offerings, and host annual and ongoing learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (gender diversity) conferences. Amazon’s culture of inclusion is reinforced within our 16 Leadership Principles, which remind team members to seek diverse perspectives, learn and be curious, and earn trust.

Work/Life Balance
Our team puts a high value on work-life balance. It isn’t about how many hours you spend at home or at work; it’s about the flow you establish that brings energy to both parts of your life. We believe striking the right balance between your personal and professional life is critical to life-long happiness and fulfillment. We offer flexibility in working hours and encourage you to find your own balance between your work and personal lives.

Mentorship & Career Growth
Our team is dedicated to supporting new members. We have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship. We care about your career growth and strive to assign projects based on what will help each team member develop into a better-rounded professional and enable them to take on more complex tasks in the future.

About the team
Annapurna Labs, part of AWS, created Trainium as a purpose-built AI training chip to revolutionize machine learning at Amazon scale. The Neuron Collectives team owns the software stack that enables collective operations — the communication primitives that allow AI training to scale across thousands of chips in the data center. Our work is essential to training the frontier models that power AI today. We work closely with hardware teams to extract maximum performance from Trainium, ensuring that compute and interconnect bandwidth are fully utilized. Our team sits at the intersection of hardware, firmware, and distributed systems.

Basic qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
- 5+ years of Experience building complex software systems that have been successfully delivered to customers
- 5+ years of Experience contributing to the architecture and design (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and current systems

Preferred qualifications

- Master's degree in computer science or equivalent
- Familiarity with collective communication algorithms (e.g., all-reduce, all-gather) or distributed training frameworks

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, Neuron Collectives, Annapurna Labs 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, Neuron Collectives, Annapurna Labs 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 May 28, 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

Distributed SystemsFirmwareOptimizationLLMAI InfrastructureCNeuron Explorer

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python AI agents Kubernetes Java Generative AI TypeScript

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 distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where firmware was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where optimization was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where llm was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where ai infrastructure was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Distributed Systems, Firmware, Optimization, LLM, and AI Infrastructure. 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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