System Development Engineer, Amazon Leo, Amazon Leo

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 with or without reliable connectivity. Our Payload Integration and Testing (PIT) team validates the end-to-end network interface communication system both on the ground prior to launch and in-orbit to ensure we are providing customers a best-in-class experience. We're the final software quality gate, ensuring what customers experience on-orbit matches our design intent.

As a System Development Engineer, you'll design and build the test automation framework and procedures that validate our satellite network end to end -- and the full stack it runs on, from the device-interface layer that drives physical hardware up through the infrastructure and operational tooling that keep our hardware-in-the-loop (HILT) test venues running reliably at scale. You'll write the automation frameworks and test harnesses that exercise the system, the low-level interface code and device drivers that let those harnesses command and read back from lab hardware over protocols like serial/UART, I2C/SPI, USB, Ethernet, and instrument-control interfaces, and the compute, networking, provisioning, and observability underneath that keep it all healthy. The technical scope is broad and systems-oriented: you'll build test-orchestration and automation software, architect and automate cloud and on-premise infrastructure, integrate and bring up lab hardware down to the register and command level, and drive the operational excellence practices that keep a high-stakes, 24/7 test environment reliable. If you love building test automation, enjoy working at the intersection of software, networking, and physical hardware, and want to solve unique operational challenges in the space domain, this is an exceptional opportunity.

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, build, and maintain test automation frameworks, test harnesses, and orchestration software that validate the satellite network end to end

- Develop automated test suites and the tooling engineers use to author, run, schedule, and debug tests across distributed HITL venues

- Write and maintain the low-level interface code and device drivers that let test systems command and read back from lab hardware over protocols such as serial/UART, I2C/SPI, USB, Ethernet, and instrument-control interfaces (e.g., SCPI)

- Perform device bring-up and integration: understand hardware command sets and register maps, debug at the protocol level, and build the abstraction layers that expose hardware to higher-level test automation

- Design, build, and operate the infrastructure and networking that connects distributed hardware-in-the-loop test venues to cloud services

- Automate provisioning, configuration, and deployment of test environments using infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines

- Build and own monitoring, alarming, dashboards, and observability for test orchestration systems and the infrastructure they depend on

- Drive operational excellence: on-call response, incident management, root-cause analysis, and systemic fixes that prevent recurrence

- Identify and resolve systemic reliability, scaling, and performance issues across the test stack -- automation, compute, network, and storage

- Collaborate with software engineers, applied scientists, systems engineers, and test teams to translate test and operational requirements into robust automation and infrastructure

- Write clean, maintainable, well-documented software following engineering best practices, and participate in design and code reviews

Basic qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
- Experience programming with at least one modern language such as Python, Ruby, Golang, Java, C++, C#, Rust
- Experience in Linux OS and network troubleshooting, or experience in Linux and Networking protocols and experience in networking administration and troubleshooting
- 3+ years of professional software development experience, including building test automation, tooling, or production systems
- Experience designing and building automated test frameworks, test harnesses, or test orchestration software
- Experience interfacing software with physical hardware at a low level -- e.g., writing or debugging device-control code over serial/UART, I2C/SPI, USB, GPIO, or instrument-control protocols, and reading hardware command/register documentation
- Understanding of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, routing, firewalls) and the ability to diagnose connectivity issues
- Experience building and operating production infrastructure, including automated provisioning and deployment

Preferred qualifications

- Experience with distributed systems at scale
- Experience building large-scale or distributed test automation for hardware-in-the-loop, embedded, or networked systems
- Experience with AWS infrastructure services (EC2, VPC, IAM, S3, CloudWatch) and infrastructure-as-code (CDK, CloudFormation, or Terraform)
- Background building CI/CD pipelines, configuration management, or deployment automation from scratch
- Knowledge of orchestration systems, workflow engines, or event-driven architectures
- Experience writing device drivers or low-level firmware, or developing against embedded/RTOS or bare-metal targets
- Familiarity with hardware debugging tools (logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, JTAG/protocol analyzers) and board bring-up
- Experience supporting lab, test, or manufacturing environments with physical hardware in the loop
- Experience with containers and virtualization (Docker, Kubernetes, ECS)
- Demonstrated experience with monitoring, alarming, and operational excellence practices
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work effectively under time pressure
- Experience working in startup environments or fast-paced, high-growth teams
- Passion for simplifying complex problems and building flexible, maintainable systems

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 - 129,200.00 - 174,800.00 USD annually