System Development Manager, Central Technical Operations Services

About the role

Amazon's Central Technical Operations Services (CTOS) is seeking an experienced System Development Manager to serve as the Costa Rica Site Lead for our 24x7 global operations team. This is a people management role responsible for hiring, developing, and leading a team of 5-13 engineers and analysts who coordinate the timely restoration of business-critical services and own the customer experience during system incidents.

As the Costa Rica site lead, you will be the primary owner of all local operations - facilities, the on-site operations center, and day-to-day site issues - while simultaneously representing the Costa Rica organization to the broader CTOS leadership team globally. You will set the standard for the site by leading by example, modeling both technical depth and operational excellence for your team.

You will partner with service owners, engineering teams, and senior leaders across Amazon - including AWS, Internal Retail Store service teams, Customer Support, and Worldwide Operations - driving rapid incident resolution, co-coordinating major retail events such as Prime Day, and championing continuous improvement in detection, mitigation, and Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). You will also contribute to and lead software development programs that advance the organization's monitoring, detection, and operational capabilities.

Key job responsibilities

People Management

• Hire, develop, and retain a high-performing team of 5-13 engineers and analysts, continuously raising the bar on talent
• Lead by example - setting the standard in both technical depth and operational execution for your team

Site Leader

• Represent the Costa Rica CTOS organization to broader CTOS leadership and the wider Amazon operations community
• Serve as the Costa Rica site lead, owning all on-site facilities coordination, operations center management, and resolution of local site issues
• Coordinate local operations and act as the primary liaison for site-level decisions, escalations, and communications
• Build and nurture relationships with external partners including AWS, Internal Retail Store service teams, Customer Support, and Worldwide Operations

Incident & Operations Management

• Lead and coordinate response to large-scale IT incidents impacting corporate sites and customer service centers globally
• Own the customer experience during incidents - engaging directly with internal engineering teams to drive resolution and protect Amazon customers
• Drive Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) improvements across all impact events affecting the Amazon customer experience
• Facilitate triage bridges with technical teams, service owners, and senior leadership up to the VP level
• Provide clear, timely status updates to leadership and customers throughout the incident lifecycle
• Co-coordinate major retail events such as Prime Day and other high-traffic operational periods

Programs & Continuous Improvement

• Manage and lead programs aligned with monitoring and detection, issue localization and debugging, and mitigation or prevention strategies
• Collaborate and contribute to software development projects to improve core organizational monitoring, alerting, and operational capabilities
• Perform post-incident reviews and drive systemic improvements through problem management processes
• Identify and implement process improvements that enhance customer experience and organizational efficiency
• Participate in an on-call rotation and work flexible schedules as business needs require

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of managing system or software development teams experience
• 3+ years of systems engineering and operations leadership for an Internet service or leading edge IT organization experience
• 7+ years of relevant hands-on systems engineering and administrative work in networking, storage systems, operating systems experience
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
• Experience in systems engineering and operations leadership for an Internet service or leading-edge IT organization
• Experience in managing system or software development teams
• Experience (hands-on) in systems engineering and administrative work in networking, storage systems, and operating systems
• Experience in agile software development methodology
• Travel up to 5-20% of the time regularly throughout the assigned region and internationally
• Experience in English-language communication skills, both written and verbal
• Experience that includes strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and effective communication abilities
• Experience managing multiple competing priorities simultaneously and driving goals to completion
• Work a non-traditional schedule, including evenings, weekends, and holidays

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of professional software engineering & best practices for full software development life cycle, including coding standards, software architectures, code reviews, source control management, continuous deployments, testing, and operational excellence
• Knowledge of systems engineering fundamentals (networking, storage, operating systems)
• Experience with Agile engineering practices (Kanban, continuous delivery, etc.)
• Experience with AWS platforms, services, and design patterns

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.