Senior Manager, Virtual Environments and Simulation, Amazon Leo, D2D Software

About the role

Amazon Leo is building a low Earth orbit satellite constellation to bring fast, affordable connectivity to customers around the world. Direct to Device (D2D) extends Leo to standard mobile phones and devices: a fully regenerative fifth-generation (5G) mobile base station on each satellite, delivering service to standard handsets through mobile network operators (MNOs).

D2D Software builds the embedded software that flies, the cloud and ground software that runs the service, and the platform that connects them. Our target is under a day from a defect being found to the fix deployed across the entire constellation, achieved by automating everything that a person would otherwise do by hand.

This team builds the virtual fleet: processor and programmable-logic emulators, full-stack virtual environments, and telemetry capture and replay, so embedded software is developed and tested before hardware. It matters because hardware is scarce and late, and most testing must run without it. Without it, development waits for rigs, and defects are found only on hardware.

This role leads virtual environments and simulation in DevOps & Release, reporting to the Director, DevOps & Release. It owns emulation, the virtual fleet, and telemetry capture and replay. Before anything is handed on, the bar is: virtual-to-rig escapes under 5%. It hands off to its customers as follows: virtual fleet and emulators to every team and IVR.

What the team needs to achieve

• Virtual-to-rig escapes under 5%.
• Hand-offs that meet their service level: virtual fleet and emulators to every team and IVR.
• Measured, rising capability and efficiency of the team, with manual work falling release over release.

How the team is measured

• Defects escaping from virtual testing to the rig.
• Share of tests run virtually.

Key job responsibilities

• Own emulation, the virtual fleet, and telemetry capture and replay.
• Meet the bar before every hand-off: virtual-to-rig escapes under 5%.
• Work directly with engineers in the boundary teams as partners, through agreed contracts and service levels.
• Automate everything a person would otherwise do twice.
• Hire, coach, and grow the team, with clear expectations and career development for every engineer.
• Define the team's metrics and service levels, and improve them release over release.
• Make the team's decisions data-driven and its quality measurable, and escalate early when risks cross team boundaries.
• Set the team's roadmap and the structure and mechanisms that deliver it, and negotiate the boundaries of the area with peer teams.
• Build the mechanisms and best practices that make the team's work repeatable, measurable, and improving.

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.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or related technical field
• 5+ years of software development experience
• Experience in management: developing engineers into managers and building teams
• Experience establishing workflows, metrics, and service levels for a team, and making data-driven trade-offs between short- and long-term needs
• Experience leading a team where the problem and strategy are not yet fully defined, working backwards from the customer
• Experience with emulators, simulators, or digital twins for embedded software on real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded Linux
• Experience keeping virtual environments faithful to hardware, with measured fidelity
• Experience across the full software development lifecycle, having shipped software and maintained it in production

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with processor or FPGA emulation
• Experience with radio channel or constellation simulation
• Experience managing managers or leading several teams
• Experience setting a multi-year direction for an area, designing the team structure and mechanisms to deliver it, and aligning several teams around it
• Experience setting strategy where the problem, opportunity, and strategy are not defined, telling one-way from two-way doors, and presenting decisions and strategy narratives to senior leaders across the organization
• A record of writing clear narratives and running data-driven reviews

Additional information

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If the country/region you're applying in isn't listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

Pay and benefits

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.

USA, WA, Redmond - 220,100.00 - 297,700.00 USD annually