Principal Tech Ops Engineer, AWS Rack Manufacturing

AWS Infrastructure Services owns the design, planning, delivery, and operation of all AWS global infrastructure. In other words, we’re the people who keep the cloud running. We support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain - and we’re looking for talented people who want to help.

You’ll join a diverse team of software, hardware, and network engineers, supply chain specialists, security experts, operations managers, and other vital roles. You’ll collaborate with people across AWS to help us deliver the highest standards for safety and security while providing seemingly infinite capacity at the lowest possible cost for our customers. And you’ll experience an inclusive culture that welcomes bold ideas and empowers you to own them to completion.

We are seeking a Principal Tech Operations Engineer to lead and scale regional manufacturing operations across a complex, multi vendor hardware production ecosystem. This role owns the end to end orchestration of external manufacturing partners, driving supplier onboarding, site enablement, technical roadmap development, and sustained performance management across Supply Chain, Quality, Technical Operations, and Procurement functions. You will shape operational planning inputs that determine how the region builds and delivers enterprise hardware at scale.

You will serve as the single threaded owner for manufacturing operations outcomes, aligning diverse stakeholders, setting strategic direction, and delivering results that meet business scaling targets. You will build consensus and drive decisions at velocity across Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Hardware Engineering, Risk Management, Public Policy, Finance, and Customer facing organizations while maintaining full accountability for production performance and customer delivery.

This is a senior role which requires 10+ years of technical program management experience. The role demands deep, tenured expertise in high mix, high complexity hardware manufacturing. You will have personally led organizations through product transitions, capacity ramps, supplier onboarding cycles, and operational transformations. You thrive in dynamic environments where shifting product mix, evolving customer demand, and technology transitions require rapid, high judgment decision making that balances quality, cost, throughput, and delivery reliability.

You will own complex integration programs from conception through design, validation, implementation, and scaling across manufacturing sites. The scope includes orchestrating a multi vendor ecosystem of manufacturing partners, managing the largest and most complex supplier engagements in the region, and delivering next generation technology programs. This includes enabling the region's first liquid cooled rack production, supporting the industry transition from air cooled to liquid cooled infrastructure. In 2027, the role expands to lead the site setup, vendor selection, and operational ramp of a purpose built Manufacturing Center of Excellence, a greenfield facility that will double regional manufacturing capacity and set operational standards for global replication.

You will bring strong technical depth across server, storage, and network hardware architectures combined with expertise in program management, supply chain operations, capacity modeling, new product introduction, and manufacturing engineering. You will drive systemic root cause resolution using structured methodologies (5 Whys, 8D, Six Sigma) and own all site capacity planning across the region. You will maintain accountability for critical financial levers including direct and indirect labor optimization, cost per unit, and overall cost competitiveness.

You will champion the highest standards of safety, security, and operational excellence across every engagement. You will communicate with clarity through structured business reviews, establish the metrics that define success, and influence across engineering, supply chain, quality, and executive leadership to deliver customer commitments at a global scale.

Key job responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Transformation

1. Define and own the 3 to 5 year manufacturing operations strategy, anticipating future capacity needs, identifying critical capability gaps, and prioritizing technology investments that position the region for sustained growth

2. Lead transformational programs that fundamentally reshape manufacturing capability, including advanced automation deployment, robotics integration, and lights out manufacturing initiatives

3. Drive manufacturing agility through flexible line configurations, rapid changeover capabilities, and multi product qualification strategies that enable the network to respond to evolving customer demand and technology transitions

4. Own capital expenditure planning for manufacturing operations, developing rigorous business cases that quantify returns on equipment investments, facility expansions, and technology upgrades

5. Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks across the manufacturing network, including single points of failure, capacity constraints, systemic quality issues, and workforce availability challenges before they impact delivery

6. Develop high quality strategic documents and investment proposals that influence manufacturing priorities at the executive level, articulating trade offs, quantifying risks, and presenting clear recommendations that drive action

Final Assembly and System Integration Excellence

1. Architect and continuously evolve production line design, material flow strategies, and workstation configurations across the manufacturing network to deliver step function improvements in throughput, cycle time, and ergonomic safety

2. Define the manufacturing execution system strategy for the region, establishing real time visibility into work in progress, station level yields, and production constraints that enable data driven decision making at every level

3. Lead a culture of relentless continuous improvement through lean manufacturing principles, kaizen programs, and value stream mapping, systematically eliminating waste and unlocking operational efficiency gains that set the benchmark for global operations

Data, Metrics, and Operational Excellence

1. Architect and own the manufacturing operations performance framework, defining the metrics that matter (overall equipment effectiveness, throughput, cycle time, first pass yield, on time delivery, cost per unit) and holding the organization accountable to world class targets

2. Build executive grade dashboards and reporting systems that provide real time visibility into production health, quality trends, and delivery performance, enabling leaders to make informed decisions at speed across all sites

3. Champion Industry 4.0 adoption including IoT enabled production monitoring, predictive maintenance, and AI driven quality inspection, positioning the manufacturing network at the forefront of smart factory innovation

4. Design scalable mechanisms and intelligent automation that eliminate manual effort in production reporting, defect tracking, and capacity planning, creating operational leverage as the network grows

5. Translate complex operational data into compelling strategic narratives for executive leadership, shaping investment priorities and manufacturing direction through clear, insight driven recommendations

6. Lead digital transformation across manufacturing operations, driving manufacturing execution system modernization, automated test equipment upgrades, and smart factory capabilities that deliver measurable competitive advantage

A day in the life

As the Principal Tech Ops Engineer, no two days look the same but the mission is constant: scale enterprise hardware manufacturing globally. You spend your time defining multi year capacity strategies, onboarding new manufacturing partners, and driving technology transitions such as enabling the region's first liquid cooled rack production. You lead manufacturing readiness reviews for new product introductions, build business cases for facility expansions, and architect digital transformation programs across the supplier ecosystem. You own the operational excellence framework, establishing metrics and scalable mechanisms that replicate across sites worldwide. You partner with hardware engineering, supply chain, and executive leadership to shape investment priorities, mitigate operational risks, and deliver next generation manufacturing capabilities. You develop future leaders, influence long term vendor strategies, and drive automation and Industry 4.0 adoption that positions the manufacturing network for sustained growth at scale.

About the team

Diverse Experiences

AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating - that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture

AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

Mentorship & Career Growth

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Work/Life Balance

We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Basic qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, project engineering in a manufacturing environment experience

- Knowledge of operating systems, hardware, storage, network, security, database administration and cloud infrastructure, experience with Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, or experience in material handling equipment (MHE)

- Experience leveraging technology and implementing lean principles/ Six Sigma methodologies to drive process improvements, communicating results to senior leadership in building financial and operational reports

- Degree or equivalent in Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science or related field. Experience in problem solving and data analytics

Preferred qualifications

- Master's degree or above in engineering, management, or technology, or Master's degree or above in Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or Business Administration

- Experience coordinating complex products with stringent technical requirements, development cycles and schedules

- Knowledge of Six Sigma tools, Lean techniques, PMP or similar standards preferred

- Travel up to 5-20% of the time regularly throughout the assigned region and internationally

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