Senior Software Development Engineer, Amazon Leo Optical Inter-Satellite Link

About the role

Amazon LEO is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Amazon LEO will help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide range of customers, including consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable connectivity.

Innovation is part of our DNA! Our goal is to be Earth's most customer centric company, and we are just getting started. We need people who want to join this ambitious program that continues to push the state of the art in distributed systems and software design. Come work at Amazon!

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

Design, develop, and optimize highly reliable flight software for optical inter-satellite link systems, spanning low-level device drivers and real-time control loops to high-level autonomous behaviors, fault management, and AI/ML-driven decision-making that target embedded linux and RTOS (Real Time Operating System)

• Architect and implement fault-tolerant, redundant software systems that keep optical links alive across a constellation of satellites, including health monitoring and autonomous recovery without ground intervention
• Build and maintain robust test, validation, and simulation infrastructure, from hardware-in-the-loop testbeds and software-in-the-loop virtualizations to automated regression suites
• Own the full lifecycle of embedded software delivery - from requirements decomposition and architecture design through implementation, code review, integration, deployment, and long-term maintenance of software running on satellites in orbit
• Collaborate deeply with cross-functional teams spanning hardware, optics, systems, communications, and operations engineers to design, integrate, test, and deploy high-speed optical communication systems that push the boundaries of space-based networking
• Drive continuous improvement of deployment and over-the-air (OTA) update processes, ensuring new capabilities and fixes can be safely and reliably delivered to hundreds of satellites on orbit with minimal operational risk

Partner with software and hardware teams to lead board bring-up and integration efforts, including developing and debugging low-level BSP (Board Support Package) components, validating peripheral connectivity (Ethernet, PCIe, SPI, I2C, flash devices), and ensuring seamless hardware-software integration from prototype through production

A day in the life

As a Software Engineer on the Optical Inter-Satellite Link team, you won't just write code - you'll see it fly. Your software will control and monitor high-speed laser communications between satellites moving at orbital velocities, and you'll be there for every stage of the journey: from early design and on-the-ground verifications to watching your code commission an optical link for the first time in orbit.

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
• 5+ years of experience with the Linux networking stack and/or consumer devices using embedded Linux, Yocto, and/or Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing embedded software for space systems, including familiarity with optical communication systems, laser terminals, or high-speed serial interfaces
• Experience with ARM-based SoCs
• Experience with Linux system virtualization (QEMU/KVM)
• Experience with FPGA-adjacent software development, including register-level interfaces, DMA engines, or hardware/software co-design

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, CA, NORTHRIDGE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

USA, WA, Redmond - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually