Principal Solutions Architect (AWS)

Amazon Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 284,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Web Services, Inc. is seeking a Principal Solutions Architect to blend hands-on technical depth with programmatic scale for its Startup Solutions Architecture team.

The role focuses on building scalable mechanisms, reference architectures, and enablement content that multiplies impact across hundreds of startups, while maintaining a hands-on capability in design, code, and operations.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of technology domain experience (software dev, cloud, systems, security, data).
• Experience communicating across technical and non-technical audiences and at C-level.
• Experience developing technology solutions and evangelising end-to-end technology roadmaps for IT transformations toward cloud.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable programs, reusable assets, and automation tools to amplify startup impact.
• Create reference architectures, IaC templates, and enablement content for solution delivery.
• Mentor SAs and drive technical upskilling across the team.
• Architect ML/AI infra, data pipelines, and MLOps workflows at scale.
• Lead design and ops for Kubernetes/EKS, security, observability, and reliability.

Skills

15+ years experience

Communication with C-level

Hands-on cloud/DevOps

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Math or equivalent

Tools

Kubernetes/EKS

Terraform/CDK

Job description

Job ID: 10584129 | Amazon Web Services, Inc.

Position Overview

We’re seeking a Principal Solutions Architect who combines deep hands‑on technical expertise with the ability to build scalable mechanisms that amplify the effectiveness of our Startup Solutions Architecture team.

This role requires a rare blend of builder’s depth and strategic impact: someone who can still design, code, and operate systems at scale, while also creating programs, frameworks, and reusable assets that multiply impact across hundreds of startups.

Why This Role

• Deep technical expertise (still hands‑on)
• Scalable mechanism design (programs, frameworks, enablement)
• Startup empathy (credible in front of developers and co‑founders)
• AI/data native perspective (helping startups turn data into their moat)

This role offers the chance to shape how AWS engages startups at scale - while working at the frontier of cloud + data + AI innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership & Mechanism Building:
  • Design and implement scalable programs, reusable assets, and automation tools that amplify the impact of the Startup SA org.
  • Create reference architectures, IaC templates, and enablement content to accelerate solution delivery across startups.
  • Develop systematic approaches to capture, codify, and share technical insights from the field back into the org.
  • Mentor SAs and drive technical upskilling programs that elevate the entire team’s capabilities.
• Domain Expertise & Hands‑on Impact:
  • ML/AI Infrastructure:
    • Architect training and inference systems at scale (distributed training, LoRA/QLoRA, quantization, GPU/TPU optimization).
    • Design end‑to‑end ML pipelines and MLOps workflows (data prep, labeling, model registry, deployment).
    • Build and optimize model serving architectures and inference systems for cost and latency.
  • Cloud Native & Kubernetes:
    • Lead design and ops excellence for Kubernetes/EKS, service mesh, microservices, and serverless‑first architectures.
    • Ensure security, compliance, and observability in containerized workloads.
  • DevOps & Reliability:
    • Drive GitOps‑first workflows, CI/CD at scale, IaC (Terraform/CDK), and automated testing frameworks.
    • Apply SRE best practices: monitoring, incident management, resilience, and scaling patterns.
  • Data Strategy & Foundations:
    • Advise startups on proprietary data strategy as a moat: collection, quality, labeling, governance.
    • Architect data pipelines (ETL/ELT, streaming, orchestration) and integrate with modern analytics platforms (Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Databricks).
    • Guide adoption of feature stores, vector databases, and lakehouse patterns to enable ML/RAG use cases.
    • Ensure compliance and governance across sensitive workloads (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2).
• Technical Trend Analysis & Strategic Impact:
  • Maintain deep understanding of emerging technical trends in GenAI, cloud, and data ecosystems.
  • Translate insights into actionable guidance for startups and scalable mechanisms for the org.
  • Provide forward‑looking perspectives on technology adoption, evolution, and competitive advantage.
• Scaling & Developer Enablement:
  • Build repeatable solutions and reference architectures addressing common startup pain points.
  • Publish blogs, whitepapers, open‑source repos, and technical presentations that extend reach beyond direct engagements.
  • Act as a co‑founder whisperer, translating complex technical trade‑offs into pragmatic startup‑stage guidance.

Basic Qualifications

• 15+ years of specific technology domain areas (e.g. software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, data & analytics) experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, mathematics or equivalent
• Experience developing technology solutions and evangelising end-to-end technology roadmaps that guide IT transformations toward cloud computing
• Experience communicating across technical and non-technical audiences and at C-level, including training, workshops, publications

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of distributed systems design and implementation or equivalent
• Knowledge of large scale automation and workflow management or equivalent
• Knowledge of database design and implementation or equivalent
• Knowledge of presentations and whiteboarding skills with a high degree of comfort speaking with internal and external executives, IT management, and developers
• Experience architecting, migrating, transforming or modernizing customer requirements to the cloud

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.

Pursuant to the San Francisco 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, San Francisco - 210,200.00 - 284,300.00 USD annually

USA, NY, New York - 201,000.00 - 272,000.00 USD annually

USA, WA, Seattle - 182,800.00 - 247,300.00 USD annually

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Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status. Veterans, military spouses, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.