Amazon Robotics is seeking a Software Development Manager to lead an embedded software team building the safety-rated sensor processing firmware that lets one of the world's largest autonomous robot fleets operate safely alongside people. You will lead a team of embedded software engineers who own real-time safety applications, sensor processing pipelines, and system interfaces on heterogeneous multi-core MCU/CPU/GPU platforms: the firmware that enables robots in Amazon facilities worldwide to detect and respond to obstacles reliably. This is a hands-on leadership role: you will set technical direction, grow and develop the team, and own delivery of firmware that meets the rigor of IEC 61508 functional safety certification.
We are looking for a manager who pairs people leadership with strong technical depth in embedded or safety-critical systems. This is a highly technical role, not a purely people-management one: you should be able to dive deep in design and safety-analysis discussions, review architecture and code with authority, make sound architectural trade-offs, and earn the technical trust of a team that writes code where correctness is not optional. You will coach engineers, hold a high bar on design and code quality, and partner effectively across electrical, mechanical, functional safety, navigation, and manufacturing teams.
Key job responsibilities
The ideal candidate is passionate about building the right solutions for our customers, developing great engineers, and raising the bar for associate safety at Amazon scale. As the manager of this team, you will:
- Hire, coach, and develop a high-judgment, bar-raising team of embedded software engineers.
- Own the technical roadmap, delivery, and operational excellence for your team's portfolio of safety-rated firmware.
- Set and uphold engineering standards across the sensor processing pipeline: from driver integration through point cloud generation to real-time collision detection.
- Partner with electrical, mechanical, functional safety, navigation, and manufacturing teams to close failure modes identified in failure mode analyses.
- Represent the team in safety certification, design reviews, and third-party witness testing, ensuring artifacts meet the rigor required for IEC 61508.
- Make transparent trade-offs between long-term architecture and near-term delivery, balancing safety, performance, and schedule.
A day in the life
No two days are the same. You might start in 1:1s and a design review, helping an engineer think through a black-channel diagnostic or a latency budget. Before lunch you negotiate scope for the next certification milestone with functional safety and navigation. In the afternoon you head to the test floor alongside your engineers and the electrical and QA teams: is it firmware, hardware, or a faulty sensor? In between, you unblock the team, give feedback on a design, and think ahead about hiring and architecture. Our managers own it all, from their engineers' growth to what ships to production robots.
About the team
The AR Firmware organization is the world-leading embedded software team behind many of the robotic systems Amazon Robotics deploys: fleets of over 1M drive units and safety-critical products that let associates work alongside robots safely. Within it, the Safety Perception team owns the safety-critical firmware in Proteus, Amazon's first robot that can safely share a work area with people. We specialize in the bandwidth and complexity of depth cameras, LiDARs, iTOFs, and dTOFs, and in proving under certification that those sensors meet requirements across all operating conditions. We keep safety software lean, prioritize test infrastructure early, and sweat the details so others do not have to.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of engineering team management experience
- 3+ years of providing technical leadership and project management for all aspects of the software development lifecycle experience
- 7+ years of Software Engineer, Software Developer, or related occupational experience
- Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
- Knowledge of engineering practices and patterns for the full software/hardware/networks development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, certification, and livesite operations
- Experience partnering with product or program management teams
- Experience leading the development of embedded, real-time, or safety-critical systems
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in communicating with users, other technical teams, and senior leadership to collect requirements, describe software product features, technical designs, and product strategy
- Experience in recruiting, hiring, mentoring/coaching and managing teams of Software Engineers to improve their skills, and make them more effective, product software engineers
- Familiarity with functional safety standards such as IEC 61508 or ISO 26262
- Experience in robotics, sensor processing (cameras, LiDAR, RADAR, time-of-flight), or autonomous systems
- Track record of delivering complex programs across multiple engineering and hardware organizations
- Experience owning operational excellence for production systems at scale
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, MA, North Reading - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
USA, MA, Westboro - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
