Senior Systems Development Engineer, Global Edge Compute (Amazon Robotics)

We're seeking a Senior Systems Development Engineer to join the Unified Workcell Compute (UWC) team, reporting directly to UWC leadership. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role where you'll architect and build foundational systems that manage Amazon's edge device fleet - over a million devices across thousands of locations worldwide. You'll work at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, device management, robotics systems, and operational excellence, solving significantly complex technical problems that enable Amazon's robotics and fulfillment operations to scale globally.
As a Senior SysDE, you'll be a technical leader who defines technical strategy, drives architectural decisions, and builds systems that enable robotics and automation teams to deploy and manage their edge compute solutions with the same ease as deploying to AWS. You'll work with ambiguity, translating undefined business problems into concrete technical solutions while balancing short-term tactical needs with long-term strategic vision. This role requires deep technical expertise across multiple domains - Linux systems, AWS services, IoT platforms, robotics compute infrastructure, and large-scale distributed systems - combined with the ability to influence and mentor engineers across the organization.


Key job responsibilities
• Build and deploy highly resilient, scalable distributed systems that operate at Amazon scale, managing robotics device fleets across thousands of sites with 99.99%+ availability requirements
• Lead the technical strategy for your team's systems within the UWC architecture, influencing decisions around hyperscale deployments, robotics compute patterns, fleet management, and edge device automation.
• Drive architectural reviews and design discussions across UWC and robotics customer teams, providing technical guidance on device lifecycle management, software distribution, multi-compute workcell support, and operational excellence patterns.
• Develop automation solutions using Python, Rust, CDK, and AWS services that eliminate entire classes of operational load and enable self-service for robotics solution teams.
• Implement and optimize Linux-based systems, OS image creation pipelines (Yocto/mkosi), and BSP solutions for diverse robotics hardware platforms including x86, ARM, NVIDIA GPU systems, and embedded devices.
• Create tooling and frameworks that enable robotics teams to provision, configure, and manage their edge compute fleets - from AI perception systems to manipulation robotics - with minimal hands-on-keyboard time.
• Define and apply standards for engineering, testing, and operational excellence best practices for your team and partner teams within the UWC and robotics organizations.
• Lead projects that streamline or eliminate excess processes, improving agility and reducing complexity for robotics teams building on UWC.
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks at the product and service level, improving the resilience, performance, and cost efficiency of UWC systems assisting critical robotics operations.
• Troubleshoot complex production issues across the full stack - from robotics device hardware and Linux kernel to AWS cloud services - extrapolating patterns and implementing general solutions that prevent future incidents.
• Partner with robotics solution teams (Amazon Robotics, manipulation systems, AI perception, workcell automation) to understand their device management challenges and architect solutions that meet their specific requirements.
• Partner with Product Managers, Technical Program Managers, and Software Development Managers across UWC and robotics teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions and drive execution.
• Mentor and develop engineers on your team and across the organization, raising the technical bar and building engineering capabilities that support Amazon's robotics strategy.
• Lead by example, delivering solutions that are inventive, resilient, and extensible, making it easier for robotics teams to build on UWC.
• Participate in hiring, technical assessments for promotions, and performance discussions to strengthen the engineering organization supporting Amazon's robotics initiatives.

A day in the life
Your day might start by investigating a critical issue where 5,000 robotics devices across multiple fulfillment centers are experiencing intermittent kernel panics during high-load operations. You dive deep into kernel logs, memory dumps, and device telemetry, correlating the failures with a recent driver update for NVIDIA GPU systems. You quickly develop a Python or Rust-based diagnostic tool to capture more granular system metrics and work with your team to roll back the problematic driver version while engineering a proper fix that addresses the underlying memory management issue.
Mid-morning, you're troubleshooting why a new OS image isn't booting co