We're looking for a Software Development Manager to own the technology that powers advertising across these reader surfaces, spanning both supply (ad placements, inventory, creative rendering) and demand (Sponsored Products, ADSP display and video, deals, and auction systems). You'll lead a team building systems that serve billions of impressions to hundreds of millions of readers monthly, while solving problems unique to books: authors are brands, readership is the conversion metric, and discovery happens across formats, devices, and surfaces that no other advertising vertical touches.
Key job responsibilities
- Lead a strong team of engineers to innovate and deliver software and infrastructure that powers Books Ads monetization.
- Work backwards from the customer to invent new solutions and to improve existing software.
- Work with the product and technical leaders to define the product direction and roadmap.
- Create vision and execution documents. Insist on the high bar for technical documentation and the quality of the developed software.
- Perform hands-on code reviews and other technical deep dives to ensure the right thing is being built and delivered to customers.
- Hire, coach, and mentor software engineers.
A day in the life
- You'll own the full ads stack across four surfaces from auction participation and ad serving on Kindle eInk to ADSP demand integration on Audible.
- You'll build at the intersection of AI and advertising leveraging LLM-based sourcing, conversion-optimized personalization embeddings, and autonomous campaign systems purpose-built for book advertisers.
- You'll work on greenfield problems: How do you measure the lifetime value of a reader across print, eBook, and audiobook? How do you serve ads in a distraction-free reading environment without degrading CX?
- How do you make advertising effortless for an independent author who has never run a campaign?
- You'll operate with startup speed inside Amazon's scale. Books Ads is a vertical team with end-to-end ownership, backed by Amazon's infrastructure and data.
About the team
Books Ads is the first vertical ads team within Amazon Ads, purpose-built because book advertisers and readers are fundamentally different from typical retail. Our advertisers range from Penguin Random House (managing thousands of titles across imprints) to independent KDP authors (managing a single debut novel on a constrained budget). Our readers dwell longer, scroll deeper, and compound engagement over time, Kindle readers consume 12+ books per month; Goodreads users shelf 538MM books annually.
We're growing at +19% YoY, have delivered +$41MM in annualized revenue from LLM-based sourcing alone, and are actively scaling ADSP across Kindle, Goodreads, and Audible. Our 2027 plan spans autonomous campaigns, books-native measurement (Author Halo, Publisher Halo, Comprehensive Ad Performance), premium creative (AI-generated book trailers), and international expansion into 5 new marketplaces. We ship fast, measure rigorously, and build for a future where every surface where readers discover books becomes a premium advertising destination.
This is a role where you'll build things that have never existed, for an audience that reads more, engages deeper, and converts differently than any other on Amazon.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of engineering team management experience
- 7+ years of engineering experience
- 8+ years of leading the definition and development of multi tier web services experience
- 1+ years of providing technical leadership and project management for all aspects of the software development lifecycle 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
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
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, NY, New York - 203,400.00 - 275,200.00 USD annually
