Senior Systems Engineer, Satellite Avionics

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable internet connectivity to customers beyond the reach of existing networks. From individual households to schools, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies, Amazon Leo will serve people and organizations operating in locations without reliable connectivity.

Our goal is to be Earth's most customer centric company, and we are just getting started. We need people who want to join an ambitious program that continues to push the state of the art in space-based systems design.

We are looking for the next member of our avionics development team who are building critical components for Amazon Leo satellites. We are looking for an exceptional systems engineer who combines superb technical and analytical capabilities with a demonstrated ability to deliver hardware.

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 the systems engineering execution for avionics hardware products, from architecture and requirements through qualification, production ramp, and on-orbit support, in partnership with the responsible hardware development engineers.
• Lead product-level hardware architecture, translating vehicle, mission, and subsystem needs into clear, achievable, and manufacturable design requirements.
• Develop and maintain product requirements, functional architectures, interface definitions, and verification traceability for avionics hardware.
• Define and manage the electrical, functional, data, timing, power, and fault-management interfaces between avionics hardware products and the broader satellite.
• Lead product requirements reviews, architecture reviews, interface reviews, and verification readiness reviews.
• Drive technical trades and cross-functional decisions to ensure avionics hardware designs meet performance, reliability, safety, manufacturability, testability, and operational needs.
• Develop and execute verification and qualification strategies that demonstrate compliance with hardware design requirements.
• Lead resolution of requirements, interface, integration, and verification issues across development, qualification, production, and on-orbit learning.
• Establish and maintain requirements traceability, interface control, and verification frameworks for avionics hardware products.
• Support production readiness and ramp by ensuring requirements, interfaces, acceptance criteria, and verification evidence remain complete, current, and controlled.
• Influence cross-functional teams, including electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, manufacturing, test, integration, and suppliers, to deliver integrated avionics hardware and meet program milestones.
• Act as a technical leader within the Avionics Electrical Engineering team, raising the bar for hardware systems engineering and developing other engineers. A day in the life As a Senior Systems Engineer, you will be part of the Avionics Electrical Engineering team, helping define the architecture, requirements, and interfaces of hardware products supporting satellite functions such as solar deploy and actuation, flight computer, propulsion, attitude control, and more. You will lead work across the hardware development lifecycle, from early architecture and requirements development through detailed design, integration, qualification, production, and on-orbit operation. You will help define what each avionics hardware product must do, establish its electrical, functional, and physical interfaces with other hardware and the satellite, and ensure the resulting design satisfies vehicle and mission needs. Working closely with the responsible hardware development engineers, you will lead critical product-level architectural efforts while partnering across electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, manufacturing, test, and integration teams to solve complex problems. A primary focus of this role is ensuring that we design and build the right avionics hardware products and that every design requirement is objectively verified. You will maintain clear traceability from vehicle and subsystem needs to product-level hardware requirements, interface definitions, and verification evidence. About the team Our team is responsible for delivering production hardware subsystems for satellite avionics. We take ownership and work hard to deliver the highest quality solutions to support the long-term success of Amazon Leo. This team consists of a broad set of technical backgrounds, and we look forward to welcoming people that are excited to help us deliver broadband internet to underserved communities!

Basic qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or equivalent

- Experience with architecture or system engineering

- Experience providing technical leadership on high-impact cross-fucntional technical project

- 5+ years of experience developing complex hardware systems across the full product lifecycle, from concept through production

- Experience defining and managing interfaces between hardware, firmware, software, mechanical, or vehicle-level systems

- Experience developing requirements traceability and verification plans

- Experience supporting hardware integration, verification, validation, or qualification

- Experience leading system-level technical trades, failure investigations, or root cause resolution

Preferred qualifications

- Master's degree in electrical engineering or equivalent

- 7+ years of experience developing complex hardware systems across the full product lifecycle in aerospace, automotive, or similar high-reliability environments

- Experience with satellite, avionics, spacecraft, or vehicle control systems

- Experience with electrical power, command and data handling, propulsion control, attitude control, sensing, or fault-management architectures

- Experience defining electrical, data, timing, power, thermal, mechanical, or functional interfaces

- Experience with requirements-management and common systems engineering tools

- Experience developing qualification and verification strategies for harsh environments

- Experience integrating electronics into complex electromechanical assemblies or vehicles

- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or other system-level test methodologies

- Experience with production readiness, acceptance testing, configuration control, or verification evidence management

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 - 159,200.00 - 215,300.00 USD annually