Senior Materials Engineer, Liquid Cooling Systems, Hardware Engineering Thermal & Mechanical

About the role

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Hardware Engineering is a leading-edge product development team that creates enterprise compute and storage server designs for our innovative web service and e-commerce technology platforms.

Our designs are industry-leading in terms of performance, frugality, and operational excellence, and are critical to the success of the AWS business and the hundreds of thousands of customers who use utility computing today. We are seeking an experienced Materials Engineer with a strong foundation in materials science, chemistry, and fluid physics to build the next generation of our liquid-cooled cloud platforms.

Our success depends on our truly innovative server infrastructure; we are handling massive scale and rapid integration of emergent technologies.

You will join a diverse team of software, hardware, and network engineers, supply chain specialists, security experts, operations managers, and other vital roles. You will collaborate with people across AWS to help us deliver the highest standards for safety and security while providing seemingly infinite capacity at the lowest possible cost for our customers. And you will experience an inclusive culture that welcomes bold ideas and empowers you to own them to completion.

Are you interested in developing solutions that have big impact? Are you someone who likes to challenge the status quo and work on developing innovative material solutions for advanced thermal systems? If you are a materials engineer or scientist with expertise in liquid cooling, coolant chemistry, wetted materials, and thermal management, and you are looking for an exciting career in cloud infrastructure, come join a team that constantly seeks ways to build things better and faster for our customers.

AWS is looking for a Sr. Materials Engineer to become part of a mechanical engineering team, responsible for materials selection, qualification, and continuous innovation in liquid cooling systems within our rapidly expanding data center footprint. This role is designed to augment the traditional capabilities of the mechanical engineering team by bringing deep materials science, coolant chemistry, and fluid physics expertise that bridges the gap between mechanical design and chemical engineering.

Our Senior Materials Engineer partners with Mechanical Design Engineers and Chemical Engineers to identify, validate, and ensure continuous quality of the correct materials, coolants, and processes for our Data Center liquid cooling systems.

You will serve as the materials science subject matter expert within the mechanical engineering organization, mentoring and upskilling mechanical engineers on materials compatibility, coolant chemistry, and advanced thermal materials. As engineers at Amazon, we are responsible for achieving a world class uptime for our customers.

We drive continuous advancements and improvements with our designs, and communicate technical direction to Sr. Management. We seek new ways to enhance the reliability, scalability, and cost effectiveness of our engineering designs. As an engineer at Amazon, you have the ability to drive change and make a substantial impact in the systems our customers rely on.

Key job responsibilities

• Identify, evaluate, and qualify coolant formulations (propylene glycol-based, water-based, and advanced coolants) from multiple vendors for current and next-generation liquid-cooled datacenter servers
• Own the wetted materials specification and compliance for server hardware and coolant loops, including alloys, plastics, rubbers, elastomers, and sealing materials in contact with cooling fluids
• Evaluate and select materials for compatibility within wetted systems, considering long-term chemical interactions between coolants, metals, polymers, and elastomers
• Perform and direct thermodynamic and fluid physics calculations for cooling system design, including heat transfer, pressure drop, flow distribution, and system-level thermal stack analysis
• Assess coolant additive packages for chemical stability, long-term reliability, biological resistance, and environmental sustainability

Perform materials characterization using spectroscopy and analytical tools including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Electron Microscopy (SEM/TEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES)

• Mentor and educate mechanical design engineers on materials science fundamentals, coolant chemistry, and materials compatibility as it relates to their hardware designs
• Drive materials sustainability initiatives, evaluating environmental impact of coolant chemistries and wetted materials selections
• Own end-to-end quality of coolant from manufacturing site through datacenters, collaborating with chemical engineering and supply chain teams

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in materials science, materials engineering, or chemical engineering with a focus on liquid cooling systems, wetted materials, or coolant chemistry
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Materials Science, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering with a materials concentration, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated experience with coolant formulation evaluation, wetted materials compatibility testing, or thermal fluid system materials selection
• Working knowledge of thermodynamic and fluid physics principles as applied to cooling system design (heat transfer, pressure drop, flow rate calculations)
• Experience with materials characterization techniques (e.g., FTIR, SEM/EDS, ICP-OES, or equivalent analytical methods)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience carrying hardware or datacenter design concepts through exploration, development, and into deployment or mass production
• Experience researching new designs, technologies, and materials for data center or server hardware
• Experience with microfluidic systems, micro-channel cooling, or advanced liquid cooling architectures
• Knowledge of thermal interface materials (TIMs) and their integration within complex thermal stacks
• Experience with advanced coolant technologies including nanomaterial-enhanced fluids (graphene, metal oxide nanoparticles) or next-generation water-based formulations
• Familiarity with elastomer and rubber chemistry as it relates to sealing and compatibility in cooling loops
• Background in materials sustainability, environmental impact assessment of engineering materials, or green chemistry
• Experience in chemical or materials vendor quality management
• Understanding of manufacturing processes for metals, alloys, and engineered plastics (casting, extrusion, injection molding, additive manufacturing)
• Experience mentoring or cross-training engineering teams in materials science fundamentals

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, Seattle - 159,200.00 - 215,300.00 USD annually