We're looking for a Senior Software Development Manager to lead the development of Hydro (https://hydro.run) and a broader set of tools that ensure engineers build correct, performant distributed systems with the help of AI. Hydro is a Rust framework - co-led by UC Berkeley and AWS - that brings distributed safety into the type system, much like Rust brings memory safety. Your team will push this forward and build the AI-powered tooling layer around it.
This is a high-autonomy role. You'll own the technical vision, build and scale the organization, set multi-year strategy, and ship software that changes how distributed systems get built.
You'll work at the intersection of distributed systems research and practical AI tooling - a space where getting correctness right actually matters. Hydro already powers production database engines and is backed by foundational research (CALM theorem). You'll take it from promising framework to industry standard.
Key job responsibilities
- Own and scale an organization of engineers building Hydro and related tooling for correctness in distributed systems
- Set multi-year technical strategy for how AI agents integrate into the distributed systems development lifecycle - from automated protocol verification to intelligent fuzzing and code generation
- Drive org-level decisions: team structure, investment allocation, build vs. partner vs. open-source tradeoffs
- Collaborate with internal Amazon teams, customers, and the open-source community
- Represent the team's vision to senior leadership and across organizational boundaries
- Hire, develop, and retain engineers who care about systems correctness
- Make high-judgment technical decisions across Rust systems programming, compiler/runtime design, and distributed protocol design
- Influence the broader organization's approach to distributed systems quality and AI-assisted development
About the team
Diverse Experiences
AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn't followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don't let it stop you from applying.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience owning the operation of a mission-critical team or product
- - 10+ years of software engineering experience with 5+ years managing managers or leading large engineering teams
- Deep understanding of distributed systems fundamentals - consensus, replication, fault tolerance, consistency models, and the CAP/CALM theorems
- Working knowledge of AI agents and LLM-based tooling - how they work, where they fail, how to make them reliable in engineering workflows
- Demonstrated ability to operate independently with high judgment: you set direction across ambiguous problem spaces, make tradeoffs with org-wide impact, and own outcomes without waiting for permission
- Track record of shipping production infrastructure used by other engineers at scale
- Experience building and growing high-performing engineering organizations
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Proficiency in Rust - ideally you've shipped Rust in production and understand its type system deeply enough to appreciate what Hydro does with it
- Experience with database internals, query engines, or storage system design
- Background in programming language theory, type systems, or compiler design
- Familiarity with deterministic simulation testing (e.g., FoundationDB-style)
- Contributions to open-source distributed systems projects
- Published research or applied work at the intersection of formal methods and distributed computing
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, Seattle - 220,100.00 - 297,700.00 USD annually
