Software Development Engineer, Amazon Optics
Amazon
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Herndon, VA · Posted October 5, 2026
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November 2026
- #2Best cities for pay after cost of living in Virginia$161k · of 15
- #3Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Southeast$161k · of 33
- #3Best all-round cities for AI careers in the Mid-Atlantic86 / 100 · of 37
- #4Best cities for pay after cost of living in the Mid-Atlantic$161k · of 37
- #4Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Mid-Atlantic441 openings · of 68
- #4Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the Mid-Atlantic76 / 100 · of 37
Rankings about engineering jobs
- Best cities for software and engineering jobs #1 San Francisco (3,412 openings)
- Best cities for engineering pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($216k)
- Most requested AI skills in engineering jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (6.1%)
- AI tools named most often in engineering jobs #1 Claude (1.7%)
- Employers with the most engineering jobs #1 Amazon (2,992 roles)
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Amazon has filed 31 layoff notices in the last twelve months, covering 8,668 workers, most recently November 2026. These are public filings with state labor departments, and an open role can sit alongside them. See the filings
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About the job
Come and build innovative services that secure the foundation of our cloud from security threats.
The Amazon Optics team builds and manages services that are used by AWS employees to secure our physical sites. Our services allow our customers to protect AWS locations and preserves the trust that all AWS users have in us. You’ll work with other software development engineers every day that are as passionate as you are about building systems that are an essential tool for our customers in keeping AWS sites secure! The services you build are used around the world to secure assets for every single AWS customer!
Our team provides solutions where “can’t be done” isn’t considered an answer, taking on the impossible and finding creative solutions. You will stretch yourself and grow. You will share your knowledge with others and help others achieve. You’ll be empowered to automate away operational efficiencies for both the team and our customers. You will be challenged to solve complex architecture problems with solutions that are extensible and scale, yet are dedicated to looking for ways to further simplify your solutions. You will work with the team on multiple products that are deployed to every AWS region using AWS services in a fully IaC deployment environment where you own everything end to end - design, development, testing, deploying.
You will join a team that values strong intuition, but seek metrics and other data sources to back up their assumptions.
Key job responsibilities
You design software solutions to enable new features or improve software. You may still require guidance from your team’s leadership to ensure your designs are in alignment with your team’s long-term architectural strategy.
You work on difficult problems with visible risks or roadblocks. You bring clarity to problems and identify simple designs for solutions.
You are active in the code review process on your team, providing meaningful feedback to others, including those who are more senior.
About the team Diverse Experiences Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the 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.
Why Amazon Security? At Amazon, security is central to maintaining customer trust and delivering delightful customer experiences. Our organization is responsible for creating and maintaining a high bar for security across all of Amazon’s products and services. We offer talented security professionals the chance to accelerate their careers with opportunities to build experience in a wide variety of areas including cloud, devices, retail, entertainment, healthcare, operations, and physical stores.
Inclusive Team Culture In Amazon Security, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Ongoing DEI events and learning experiences inspire us to continue learning and to embrace our uniqueness. Addressing the toughest security challenges requires that we seek out and celebrate a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and voices.
Training & Career Growth We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, training, and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.
Work/Life Balance We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why flexible work hours and arrangements are part of our culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve. - 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience - 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience - Experience with Machine Learning and Large Language Model fundamentals, including architecture, training/inference lifecycles, and optimization of model execution - 1+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience - Knowledge of machine learning model architecture and inference - 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience - Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
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, VA, Arlington - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually USA, VA, Herndon - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually