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Amazon Principal Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Sr Responsible Engineer , Amazon Leo

Redmond, WA · On-site

$117K - $160K/yr

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable ... You enlist Senior/Principal Engineer to ensure architecture(s) scale (or will scale) to match the ...

Sr Responsible Engineer , Amazon Leo

Redmond, WA · On-site

$117K - $160K/yr

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable ... You enlist Senior/Principal Engineer to ensure architecture(s) scale (or will scale) to match the ...

Principal, Data Engineer

Woburn, MA · On-site

$170K - $213K/yr

The Team We are seeking a Principal Data Engineer to join American Tower's Information Technology ... Strong understanding of streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka or Amazon Kinesis ...

Principal Data Engineer Locations: Waltham, MA - Hybrid About the Role We are seeking a highly ... Strong knowledge of Oracle, PostgreSQL, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon Aurora databases * Experience ...

Sr Responsible Engineer , Amazon Leo

Redmond, WA · On-site

$117K - $160K/yr

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable ... You enlist Senior/Principal Engineer to ensure architecture(s) scale (or will scale) to match the ...

We are seeking experienced Hardware Design Engineers to build the next generation of our cloud ... About the team In 2015, Annapurna Labs was acquired by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Since then, we ...

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Amazon Principal Engineer information

See salary details

$74K

$147.2K

$212.5K

How much do amazon principal engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 5, 2026, the average yearly pay for amazon principal engineer in the United States is $147,220.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,500.00 and $173,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Amazon Principal Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Amazon Principal Engineer, you need deep expertise in software engineering, system architecture, and scalable distributed systems, supported by a strong technical degree and extensive industry experience. Mastery of cloud platforms (like AWS), programming languages (such as Java, C++, or Python), and familiarity with CI/CD tools are typically expected. Exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to influence and mentor cross-functional teams make someone stand out in this role. These skills are vital for driving technical vision, delivering complex solutions at scale, and ensuring alignment across large engineering organizations.

How does a Principal Engineer at Amazon typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive large-scale projects?

As a Principal Engineer at Amazon, you will frequently collaborate with cross-functional teams that include product managers, data scientists, and engineering teams across different domains. Your role often involves providing technical leadership, aligning stakeholders on architectural decisions, and mentoring engineers to ensure best practices are followed. Principal Engineers are expected to facilitate clear communication, resolve technical roadblocks, and drive consensus, especially on complex or ambiguous projects. This collaboration is key to delivering scalable, high-impact solutions that align with Amazon’s business goals.

What is an Amazon Principal Engineer?

An Amazon Principal Engineer is a senior-level technical leader responsible for driving significant architectural decisions, setting technical direction, and mentoring engineering teams at Amazon. They have deep expertise in their field and often influence multiple teams or even the entire organization. Principal Engineers are expected to solve complex problems, champion best practices, and help shape Amazon’s technology vision. They collaborate closely with other leaders and contribute to both short-term projects and long-term technology strategies.

What is the difference between Amazon Principal Engineer vs Amazon Software Development Manager?

AspectAmazon Principal EngineerAmazon Software Development Manager
CredentialsTypically requires extensive technical experience, advanced degrees, and industry certificationsRequires experience in software development, leadership, and project management, often with a background in computer science
Work EnvironmentFocuses on technical leadership, architecture, and innovation across teamsLeads teams, manages projects, and oversees software development processes
Employer & Industry UsageCommonly used in Amazon and similar tech companies for senior technical rolesUsed in Amazon and other tech firms for managerial roles overseeing development teams

The Amazon Principal Engineer is a highly technical role emphasizing architecture and innovation, while the Amazon Software Development Manager focuses on team leadership and project management. Both roles require strong technical backgrounds but differ in their primary responsibilities and focus areas.

More about Amazon Principal Engineer jobs
What cities are hiring for Amazon Principal Engineer jobs? Cities with the most Amazon Principal Engineer job openings:
What states have the most Amazon Principal Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Amazon Principal Engineer jobs include:
Infographic showing various Amazon Principal Engineer job openings in the United States as of May 2026, with employment types broken down into 53% Full Time, 27% Part Time, and 20% Contract. Highlights an 94% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 4% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,220 per year, or $70.8 per hour.
Principal, Senior Principal and Distinguished Engineer, AWS Agentic AI

Principal, Senior Principal and Distinguished Engineer, AWS Agentic AI

Amazon

Seattle, WA • On-site

$142K - $196K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 3 days ago


Amazon rating

7.4

Company rating: 7.4 out of 10

Based on 6,811 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

7th of 39 rated national retailers


Job description

Agentic AI drives innovation at the forefront of artificial intelligence, enabling customers to transform their businesses through cutting-edge AI solutions. We build and deliver the foundational AI services that power the future of cloud computing, helping organizations harness the potential of AI to solve their most complex challenges. Join our dynamic team of AI/ML practitioners, applied scientists, software engineers, and solution architects who work backwards from customer needs to create groundbreaking technologies.
Role Overview
We are seeking exceptional Principal Engineers to join the Agentic AI organization at AWS. This requisition represents multiple opportunities across various teams building the next generation of AI agent platforms, services, and tools. As AI agents proliferate across the industry, AWS is at the forefront of this transformation, building the technical foundation that will make sophisticated multi-agent workflows accessible to developers worldwide. In these roles, you'll design, build, and scale systems that genuinely move the needle for customers - leveraging the latest AI-powered development tools to work faster, think bigger, and ship better. We're looking for Principal Engineers who bring rare technical knowledge, a builder's instinct, and the kind of curiosity that doesn't stop at "good enough."
What You'll Do
As a Principal Engineer in Agentic AI, you will be a hands-on technical leader tackling the hardest, most ambiguous problems in the rapidly evolving Generative AI space. You will:
• Deliver high-impact technical projects and architect software systems built to scale - leveraging cutting-edge AI-powered development tools to push the boundaries of what's possible.
• Build trend-setting AWS services in the Gen AI field, solving the hardest engineering challenges to enable machine learning powered solutions for customers
• Deliver strategic technical projects that have significant bottom-line impact on our business and competitive position
• Design and architect large-scale systems that are scalable, efficient, and fault tolerant as tier zero Amazon services
• Provide technical leadership by mentoring engineers and drawing from deep technical expertise to guide complex technical decisions
• Shape technology, product, and business in a fast-moving, startup environment within a large company
• Work across domains including compute, databases, networking, identity, and ML science teams
Depending on your background and interests, you may work on:
• AgentCore Platform: Building comprehensive, modular infrastructure for deploying and operating autonomous AI agents securely and at scale, including serverless runtime, memory, identity, gateway, and observability components
• Agent Orchestration: Developing sophisticated multi-agent coordination and workflow orchestration patterns, solving intrinsically hard problems in context management, state coordination, and autonomous system control
• Knowledge & Evaluation: Creating robust evaluation frameworks, knowledge retrieval systems, and augmentation services that power AI-driven solutions with accurate, context-aware information
• Security & DevOps: Implementing Shift Left Security by building intelligent security agents that perform application security engineering and penetration testing functions, preventing insecure code from reaching production
• Migration & Modernization: Accelerating enterprise modernization through agentic AI services that transform .NET, mainframe, and VMware workloads
Key job responsibilities
Deliver some of our most strategic technical projects and design new software systems at scale
Lead architecture and engineering strategy for critical AI agent platforms and services
Mentor engineers and provide leadership on complex technical issues
Work closely with product, engineering, and science leaders to drive innovation
Set technical direction for platforms critical to accelerating customers' agents to production
Balance technical expertise with strong analytical skills to make informed architectural decisions
Thrive in a dynamic environment where operational excellence and customer impact are paramount
About the team
This is a strategic initiative with AWS leadership visibility at the highest levels. You'll have the opportunity to:
Build and launch new AI services from the ground up
Learn state-of-the-art machine learning technology
Work with an exceptional group of product, engineering, and science leaders
Get in on the ground floor of a fast-growing business
Shape the future of AI while making meaningful impact for customers worldwide
Our teams have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures. We celebrate knowledge-sharing and mentorship, with senior members providing one-on-one mentoring and thorough, kind code reviews. We care about career growth and assign projects that help develop engineering expertise.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 10+ years of design, development engineering experience.
- Experience collaborating across multiple organizations and influencing key outcomes.
- Experience as a technical leader of multiple concurrent projects, driving strategic technical decisions.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience designing, building & operating large scale, highly available, secure cloud infrastructure.
- Experience with AI software systems including Agents.
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, WA, BELLEVUE - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, REDMOND - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Redmond - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually

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About Amazon

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

Amazon.com, Inc., commonly known as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and initially started as an online marketplace for books. Since then, Amazon has expanded its operations and become one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world. Amazon's primary business is its online retail platform, where customers can purchase a vast array of products, including electronics, clothing, books, home goods, and much more. The company offers a convenient and user-friendly shopping experience, with features such as fast shipping, customer reviews, and personalized recommendations. In addition to its e-commerce platform, Amazon has diversified its business into various other areas. One of its notable ventures is Amazon Web Services (AWS), a comprehensive cloud computing platform that provides services such as storage, compute power, and database management to individuals and businesses. AWS has become a leader in the cloud computing industry, powering many websites and applications worldwide. Amazon has also developed its own consumer electronics, including the popular Amazon Kindle e-reader, Fire tablets, Fire TV streaming devices, and the Alexa-powered Echo smart speakers. The Alexa voice assistant, integrated into these devices, allows users to interact with their devices using voice commands, perform tasks, and access information. Furthermore, Amazon has expanded into media and entertainment. It operates Prime Video, a streaming service that offers a wide range of movies, TV shows, and original content. Amazon Music provides a platform for streaming and purchasing digital music, while Audible offers audiobooks and other audio content. The company's commitment to customer satisfaction and convenience is demonstrated by its membership program, Amazon Prime. Prime members receive various benefits, including free two-day shipping, access to streaming services, exclusive deals, and more.

Industry

It services, book publishers, retail, real estate and computer and electronic product manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Seattle, WA, US