Virtual Platform Software Engineer, Annapurna Labs Machine Learning Accelerators, AWS

Amazon is hiring a Virtual Platform Software Engineer, Annapurna Labs Machine Learning Accelerators, AWS in Cupertino, United States. It pays $165k-$224k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Little AI ●○○○ is how Level rates this software engineer role: aI is not part of the work.
The listed pay starts close to the typical software engineer posting on Level.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

AWS's Trainium and Inferentia chips power the world's largest machine learning clusters. Our team builds virtual platforms — full-system C++ and SystemC models of these custom SoCs — that let software teams start development months before silicon arrives. For Trainium3, our virtual platform enabled running a full training workload within 12 hours of first silicon. We're looking for a software engineer to build and own the models and infrastructure that make this possible.

What you'll do:
- Build and own functional models of SoC subsystems that integrate into our full-system virtual platform, used by firmware, driver, runtime, and application software teams
- Develop and improve the virtual platform infrastructure: QEMU integration, simulation performance, build and release tooling, and customer-facing documentation
- Design models for usability and performance — your customers are software engineers who need to run real workloads on your platform efficiently
- Develop and improve the virtual platform infrastructure: QEMU integration, simulation performance, build and release tooling, and customer-facing documentation
- Work with software teams (your primary customers) to understand their workflows, debug issues on the platform, and shape the model to maximize their productivity
- Drive simulation performance improvements so the platform can handle increasingly complex workloads at scale
- Contribute to model architecture decisions — choosing the right level of abstraction and fidelity for each subsystem based on customer needs

Why this role is interesting:
- You'll own a product that software teams across AWS depend on — they literally can't start development without your virtual platform
- The engineering challenges are genuinely interesting: full-system simulation, multi-subsystem integration, QEMU development, performance optimization at scale
- You'll see the direct impact of your work when software teams hit the ground running on new silicon
- As the team grows, there's a path into architectural modeling — using the platform to explore design alternatives and influence chip architecture
- Small team, startup pace, big impact inside AWS's custom silicon org

You will thrive in this role if you:

- Have built functional models, virtual platforms, or system-level simulations for SoCs, ASICs, GPUs, or CPUs
- Think of yourself as a software engineer first, with deep domain knowledge in chip architecture
- Are comfortable in C++ or SystemC, and familiar with Python for tooling
- Care about your customers' experience — you think about usability, documentation, and reliability, not just model accuracy
- Are interested in expanding into performance or architectural modeling as the team scales
- Enjoy working on a small, high-impact team where you own significant pieces of the stack

No ML background needed. You'll learn the ML accelerator domain on the job.

This role can be based in Cupertino, CA or Austin, TX.

Basic qualifications

- Experience programming languages such as C/C++, Python, Java or Perl
- 2+ years writing functional models, virtual platforms, or system-level simulations for hardware (SoCs, ASICs, GPUs, CPUs)
- Familiarity with SoC, CPU, GPU, and/or ASIC architecture and micro-architecture

Preferred qualifications

- 2+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- Experience developing for or integrating with QEMU
- Experience with SystemC, TLM, or transaction-level modeling
- Experience building simulation infrastructure, CI pipelines, or release tooling
- Familiarity with Modern C++ (20 and beyond)
- Experience with PyTest, GoogleTest, or similar test frameworks
- Experience with multi-threaded programming
- Familiarity with firmware, driver, or runtime software development

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 - 165,200.00 - 223,600.00 USD annually
USA, TX, Austin - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Virtual Platform Software Engineer, Annapurna Labs Machine Learning Accelerators, AWS at Amazon rates 14 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

Virtual Platform Software Engineer, Annapurna Labs Machine Learning Accelerators, AWS is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $165k-$224k a year.
The role is based in US, CA, Cupertino.
The job was posted on March 27, 2026.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon