Software Development Manager, Amazon Leo Data Platform

Socket.dev; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Amazon Leo is seeking a Software Development Manager to design, implement, and operate globally distributed systems enabling low-latency AI-enabled analytics for Leo devices and services. You will shape scalable cloud services, vector databases, and hybrid search strategies, driving performance and compliance.

The role emphasizes leadership, architecture, and partnering with product teams to deliver end-to-end software and data capabilities for the Leo network and its AI foundations.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering team management experience.
• 7+ years of engineering experience.
• 8+ years of leading the definition and development of multi tier web services.
• 1+ years developing large-scale distributed software systems using Java, C#, or C++.
• Experience with service-oriented architecture and distributed programming.
• Knowledge of full software/hardware/networks lifecycle including tests and livesite operations.
• Experience partnering with product or program management teams.

Responsibilities

• Architect and implement scalable data lakehouse and analytics layers.
• Lead design of metadata management, data ingestion patterns, and quality controls.
• Develop a globally distributed vector database with sub-100ms retrieval.
• Architect hybrid search strategies and compliant data handling.
• Build cloud services and APIs for Leo AI Foundations.

Skills

Engineering team management

Distributed systems

Multi-tier web services

Java/C#/C++

Service-oriented architecture

Distributed programming

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science/Engineering/Mathematics

Job description

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.

This role is for a Software Development Manager who will design, implement, and operate globally distributed systems that enable Leo to achieve low single-digit-second query responses within a near real-time analytics layer or lakehouse, and to support agentic AI capabilities on top. You’ll build these systems using the latest AWS technologies and best-in-industry data engineering practices.

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

• Architect and implement a scalable, cost-optimized S3-based Data Lakehouse that unifies structured and unstructured data from disparate sources.
• Architect and implement a scalable, cost-performance-optimized OLAP-based analytics layer
• Establish metadata management with automated data classification and lineage tracking.
• Design and enforce standardized data ingestion patterns with built-in quality controls and validation gates.
• Architect a centralized metrics repository that becomes the source of truth for all Leo metrics.
• Implement robust data quality frameworks with staging-first policies and automated validation pipelines.
• Design extensible metrics schemas that support complex analytical queries while optimizing for AI retrieval patterns.
• Develop intelligent orchestration for metrics generation workflows with comprehensive audit trails.
• Lead the design of semantic data models that balance analytical performance with AI retrieval requirements.
• Implement cross-domain federated query capabilities with sophisticated query optimization techniques.
• Architect a globally distributed vector database infrastructure capable of managing billions of embeddings with consistent sub-100ms retrieval times.
• Design and implement hybrid search strategies combining dense vectors with sparse representations for optimal semantic retrieval.
• Establish automated compliance validation frameworks ensuring data handling meets Amazon's security standards.

A day in the life

This role is for a Software Development Manager who will build new cloud services and APIs that facilitate and orchestrate the Leo AI Foundations—enabling intelligent software operation across Leo devices such as satellites, ground gateways, and customer terminals. You will design and deliver low-latency, highly scalable architectures that are critical to providing high-quality internet service and AI capabilities to customers.

About the team

Leo AI Foundations builds the intelligent cloud backbone that powers AI-driven decision making across Amazon’s Leo constellation — from satellites and ground gateways to customer terminals. Our team designs and operates large-scale data and compute systems that enable training, inference, and agentic intelligence for optimizing network performance, routing, and user experience in real time. We combine expertise in distributed systems, data lakehouse architectures, and applied machine learning to deliver scalable, low-latency AI capabilities that integrate seamlessly with Leo's software-defined space and ground systems. We move fast, innovate boldly, and work across boundaries to make global connectivity smarter and more efficient.

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering team management experience
• 7+ years of engineering experience
• 8+ years of leading the definition and development of multi tier web services experience
• 3+ years of Software Engineer, Software Developer, or related occupational experience
• 1+ years of providing technical leadership and project management for all aspects of the software development lifecycle experience
• 1+ years of developing large-scale, multi-tiered distributed software systems using Java, C#, or C++ experience
• 1+ years of developing large-scale, multi-tiered distributed software systems using service-oriented architecture experience
• 1+ years of developing large-scale, multi-tiered distributed software systems using distributed programming experience
• Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
• Knowledge of engineering practices and patterns for the full software/hardware/networks development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, certification, and livesite operations
• Experience partnering with product or program management teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in communicating with users, other technical teams, and senior leadership to collect requirements, describe software product features, technical designs, and product strategy
• Experience in recruiting, hiring, mentoring/coaching and managing teams of Software Engineers to improve their skills, and make them more effective, product software engineers

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 - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually