Senior Software Engineer, Interfaces and Contracts, Amazon LEO, D2D Software

Amazon Leo is building a low Earth orbit satellite constellation to bring fast, affordable connectivity to customers around the world. Direct to Device (D2D) extends Leo to standard mobile phones and devices: a fully regenerative fifth-generation (5G) mobile base station on each satellite, delivering service to standard handsets through mobile network operators (MNOs). D2D Software builds the embedded software that flies, the cloud and ground software that runs the service, and the platform that connects them. Our target is under a day from a defect being found to the fix deployed across the entire constellation, achieved by automating everything that a person would otherwise do by hand.

This role leads interfaces and contracts in Software Architecture & Specifications, reporting to the Chief Software Architect, Software Architecture & Specifications. It owns hardware and software contracts, supplier interfaces, command dictionaries, and the telemetry and metadata contract. Before anything is handed on, the bar is: every interface states timing, resources, and a service level. It hands off to its customers as follows: ratified agreements to block teams within their service level.

What the team needs to achieve

• Every interface states timing, resources, and a service level.
• Hand-offs that meet their service level: ratified agreements to block teams within their service level.
• Measured, rising capability and efficiency of the team, with manual work falling release over release. How the team is measured
• Interfaces whose contracts state timing, resources, and a service level.
• Agreements ratified inside their service level. D2D Software is an evolving organization of many teams: Software Architecture & Specifications; Software Delivery & Business Ops; Software Integration, Verification & Reliability; DevOps & Release; Satellite Software Development; Ground Software Development; and Customer Software Engineering & Support. Each Director owns business outcomes: delivering the commitments, and the capability and efficiency of their teams. Teams work as internal customers and suppliers with agreed service levels, interfaces are agreed centrally while designs stay local, and engineers are expected to work directly with engineers across every boundary. Milestones are committed deadlines for delivery with quality, not gates to wait on, and every team runs on one toolchain and one system of record. Every measure is derived from the systems of record, never self-reported, and we improve release over release with a target of perfection. 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
• Own hardware and software contracts, supplier interfaces, command dictionaries, and the telemetry and metadata contract.
• Meet the bar before every hand-off: every interface states timing, resources, and a service level.
• Work directly with engineers in the boundary teams as partners, through agreed contracts and service levels.
• Automate everything a person would otherwise do twice.
• Lead the end-to-end design and delivery for this area, and represent the trade-offs of each approach.
• Mentor engineers and drive the use of best practices.
• Mitigate long-term risks, clear blockers with the right people, and escalate when appropriate. About the team D2D Software is an evolving organization of many teams: Software Architecture & Specifications; Software Delivery & Business Ops; Software Integration, Verification & Reliability; DevOps & Release; Satellite Software Development; Ground Software Development; and Customer Software Engineering & Support. Each Director owns business outcomes: delivering the commitments, and the capability and efficiency of their teams. Teams work as internal customers and suppliers with agreed service levels, interfaces are agreed centrally while designs stay local, and engineers are expected to work directly with engineers across every boundary. Milestones are committed deadlines for delivery with quality, not gates to wait on, and every team runs on one toolchain and one system of record. Every measure is derived from the systems of record, never self-reported, and we improve release over release with a target of perfection.

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

- Experience influencing partner teams and mentoring engineers

- Experience delivering where the problem and scope are not fully defined: defining the requirements and scope, building consensus across teams, and making trade-offs between short- and long-term needs

- Experience defining interfaces for embedded software on real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded Linux, including hardware and software boundaries, command and telemetry formats, and timing

- Experience versioning and evolving interfaces used by many teams

- Experience across the full software development lifecycle, having shipped software and maintained it in production

Preferred qualifications

- Experience with space command and telemetry or with telecom interfaces

- Experience with interface definition and contract testing tools

- Experience setting technical direction across multiple teams and writing strategy narratives for senior leaders

- The judgment to tell one-way from two-way doors

- Experience setting the long-term technical direction for an area across the organization, researching and benchmarking options to decide what to build, reuse, or deprecate, and aligning several teams around it

- A record of writing clear narratives and running data-driven reviews

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