Senior Software Development Engineer, Ads Nova

Amazon Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 185,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Amazon Advertising is building a new AI-driven ads initiative, seeking a Senior Software Development Engineer to own the technical strategy for a greenfield startup team. You will design scalable architectures and mentor engineers while delivering end-to-end, AI-powered advertising solutions across verticals.

In a fast-moving environment, you will partner with principal engineers and scientists to define roadmaps, translate ambiguous problems into robust systems, and drive impact at internet

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 as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical strategy and architectural direction for a business-critical initiative — designing, developing, launching, and maintaining AI-powered advertising solutions that simplify the advertiser experience across strategic verticals.
• Partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures.
• Design and build end-to-end services and platforms from the ground up, making foundational technical decisions that shape the product for years to come.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across engineering, science, and product teams to deliver integrated solutions that balance advertiser needs with customer experience.
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies — including agentic AI models — to accelerate product development and unlock new advertising capabilities.
• Mentor engineers, establish engineering best practices, and raise the technical bar as the team scales.
• Influence the long-term technical vision while delivering iterative, high-impact results in a fast-paced startup environment.

Skills

Software development experience

Programming languages

Design/architecture leadership

Mentor/tech lead

Education

BS in computer science or equivalent

Job description

Senior Software Development Engineer, Ads Nova

Job ID: 10579118 | Amazon.com Services LLC

Lead the technical strategy for a greenfield startup team building AI-powered vertical advertising products — simplifying full-funnel solutions at internet scale with agentic AI models across strategic verticals including financial services, automotive, and local businesses. There is no known answer or existing pattern to follow — we are defining the space from the ground up.

Amazon Advertising is building this team to diversify demand and transform how vertical advertisers grow on Amazon through specialized, AI-driven advertising experiences. You'll partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures and making foundational technical decisions that will shape the product for years to come. This is an ambiguous, fast-moving environment where the problems are big, the solutions are yet to be invented, and the impact is immediate. If you're energized by building state-of-the-art products from scratch and shaping the future of AI-driven advertising, this is your team.

Key job responsibilities

• Own the technical strategy and architectural direction for a business-critical initiative — designing, developing, launching, and maintaining AI-powered advertising solutions that simplify the advertiser experience across strategic verticals
• Partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures
• Design and build end-to-end services and platforms from the ground up, making foundational technical decisions that shape the product for years to come
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across engineering, science, and product teams to deliver integrated solutions that balance advertiser needs with customer experience
• Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies — including agentic AI models — to accelerate product development and unlock new advertising capabilities
• Mentor engineers, establish engineering best practices, and raise the technical bar as the team scales
• Influence the long-term technical vision while delivering iterative, high-impact results in a fast-paced startup environment

A day in the life

You might start your morning reviewing a technical design document, providing feedback that helps a teammate refine their approach. By mid-morning, you're deep in code — prototyping a critical interface or refactoring a component to improve reliability. After lunch, you join a cross-team architecture discussion where you advocate for a pragmatic path forward. Later, you pair with a junior engineer on a tricky problem, helping them break it down into manageable pieces. Throughout the day, you move fluidly between hands-on coding, technical leadership, and collaboration.

About the team

Our team is developing a fine-tuned LLM trained on proprietary ads data to power the next generation of advertiser experiences. The work is highly ambiguous and everyone on the team has the opportunity to lead complex efforts where there are no existing solutions or playbooks to start from.

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

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent

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.

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.

Base Salary Range

• USA, CA, Palo Alto - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually
• USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
• USA, WA, SEATTLE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

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.

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.