Senior Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering, AWS Forward Deployed Engineering, US Government

Amazon; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 298,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon seeks a Senior Forward Deployed Engineering Manager to lead multiple FDE pods across strategic enterprise customers from Arlington, VA. You will define delivery models, engineering standards, and talent strategy, owning organization-level outcomes and driving measurable impact.

US Citizens with TS/SCI clearance are required. Responsibilities include staffing and structuring teams, setting engagement cadences, and accelerating AI adoption while influencing AWS product roadmaps.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of engineering experience.
• Current, active US Government Security Clearance of TS/SCI with Polygraph.
• 5+ years of engineering management experience, including managing managers or large engineering teams (15+)
• 8+ years of experience leading the design and architecture of large-scale production systems.
• Experience defining technical strategy and delivery standards while managing teams across multiple concurrent programs or customer engagements.
• Experience communicating technical and organizational strategy to executive audiences (VP/C-suite level).
• 6+ years of senior leadership development and talent management experience (preferred).
• Experience building and scaling engineering organizations focused on AI/ML production systems.
• Experience with enterprise-scale agentic workflows, multi-agent orchestration, or AI system governance.
• Experience creating delivery models or engineering mechanisms adopted across an organization.
• Experience influencing product roadmaps through customer engagement patterns.
• Experience building engineering talent pipelines and driving organizational hiring strategy.
• Experience representing engineering organizations to executive leadership (VP/C-suite level).

Responsibilities

• Lead the FDE delivery organization.
• Define engagement models, staffing strategies, and delivery cadences for multiple customer engagements.
• Define technical direction for complex AI programs and align with AWS teams.
• Define operational standards and production readiness criteria for AI systems.
• Hire, develop, and retain FDE talent across levels and build the talent pipeline.
• Identify opportunities to expand AI adoption across customer organizations and influence product roadmaps.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Security clearance

Large-scale systems design

Executive communication

Delivery strategy

AI/ML production systems

Talent management

Job description

Description

Application deadline: Sep 11, 2026

A Senior Forward Deployed Engineering Manager (Senior FDE Manager) leads multiple pods of FDEs across several strategic enterprise customers, defining the delivery model, engineering standards, and talent strategy for the FDE practice at scale. This is not a Solutions Architect management role and not a consulting engagement manager role. Senior FDE Managers own organizational-level outcomes — they set the technical direction across multiple concurrent customer programs, build and scale the FDE team, and drive the mechanisms that ensure consistent engineering excellence and measurable business impact across the entire portfolio.

Senior FDE Managers operate at org-level scope. They lead 15-30+ engineers, influence technical decisions across multiple customer engagements and AWS teams simultaneously, and define what "great" looks like for forward-deployed AI engineering management. They represent the FDE practice to AWS senior leadership and customer C-suite executives, balancing strategic vision with operational execution.

This position requires that the candidate selected be a US Citizen and currently possess and maintain an active TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph.

Key job responsibilities

Lead the FDE delivery organization.

• Own delivery across multiple customer engagements and FDE pods. Staff and structure teams for optimal customer coverage. Define engagement models, staffing strategies, and delivery cadences. Ensure consistent engineering quality across all active programs. Requires up to 25% travel.

Define technical strategy and standards.

• Set the technical direction for the most complex customer AI programs spanning your organization. Align technical strategy with adjacent AWS teams. Be a key influencer for strategic decisions, bringing technology and industry context to business decisions. Resolve escalations and drive closure with peers, Directors, and stakeholders.

Own production excellence at organizational scale.

• Define operational standards, evaluation frameworks, and production readiness criteria for AI systems across your organization. Establish mechanisms that ensure AI systems remain healthy across all active engagements. Drive improvements that enable the organization to insist on the highest operational excellence standards.

Build and scale the team.

• Hire, develop, and retain FDE talent across levels. Coach and develop FDE Managers. Drive performance management, succession planning, and organizational health. Create the talent pipeline for the FDE practice. Define hiring bar and calibration standards.

Accelerate transformation at portfolio level.

• Identify systemic opportunities to expand AI adoption across multiple customer organizations. Create accelerators and reusable platforms that reduce time-to-value. Influence AWS product roadmaps based on patterns observed across customers. Feed learnings back into AWS at the organizational level.

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About the team

ABOUT AWS:

Diverse Experiences

Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred 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.

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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.

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Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of engineering experience

• Current, active US Government Security Clearance of TS/SCI with Polygraph

• 5+ years of engineering management experience, including managing managers or large engineering teams (15+)

• 8+ years of experience leading the design and architecture of large-scale production systems

• Experience defining technical strategy and delivery standards while managing teams across multiple concurrent programs or customer engagements

• Experience communicating technical and organizational strategy to executive audiences (VP/C-suite level)

Preferred Qualifications

• 6+ years of senior leadership development and talent management experience

• Experience building and scaling engineering organizations focused on AI/ML production systems

• Experience with enterprise-scale agentic workflows, multi-agent orchestration, or AI system governance

• Experience creating delivery models or engineering mechanisms adopted across an organization

• Experience influencing product roadmaps through customer engagement patterns

• Experience building engineering talent pipelines and driving organizational hiring strategy

• Experience representing engineering organizations to executive leadership (VP/C-suite level)

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 .

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USA, VA, Arlington - 220,100.00 - 297,700.00 USD annually

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