Distinguished Engineer Jobs in Seattle, WA (NOW HIRING)

We are hiring Principal, Senior, and Distinguished Engineers to join AWS Applied AI Solutions.
AWS Applied AI Solutions (AAIS) is revolutionizing the future of work and enterprise technology with AI solutions that improve human capabilities and business outcomes. Our vision is to empower every business to innovate with Amazon AI teammates that make intelligent operations effortless. We blend curiosity with Amazon's real-world experience to build opinionated, turnkey solutions that work right out of the box. This spans customer engagement (Connect Customer AI), healthcare (Connect Health), supply chain and demand planning (Connect Decisions), high-volume hiring (Connect Talent), scientific discovery (Bio Discovery), physical retail (Just Walk Out), end-user computing (Amazon WorkSpaces), cloud workforce development (AWS Training and Certification), and AI-powered cloud operations (AWS Support). If you want to build AI that runs in production serving hundreds of millions of interactions, where correctness, latency, and failure-mode ownership are first-class concerns, this is the team.
What You'll Do:
This is a rare chance to own and ship finished AI solutions - not building blocks, not platform layers - at enterprise scale. You'll architect end-to-end systems where thousands of autonomous agents orchestrate in real time, make consequential decisions in production, and collaborate with humans in ways no one has built before.
The problems here are unlike anything else in the industry. How do you guarantee correctness in non-deterministic systems? How do you orchestrate thousands of concurrent agents with heterogeneous latency profiles and zero established consensus model? How do you design an AI teammate that onboards to a business the way a new hire would - building trust, learning context, knowing when to escalate? These are research-grade challenges being solved in production, at scale. The patterns don't exist yet. You're inventing them.
The systems you build here won't sit in a backlog - they ship to real customers: healthcare systems managing millions of patient interactions, pharma companies compressing drug discovery from years to weeks, enterprises orchestrating global supply chains in real time. You'll have direct influence over technical choices, minimal layers between you and decisions, and the opportunity to define what AI-native engineering looks like in practice.
Key job responsibilities
Deliver strategic technical projects and design new software systems at scale
Lead architecture and engineering strategy for enterprise AI solutions across multiple domains
Mentor and guide engineers while solving complex technical challenges hands-on
Work cross-functionally with Principal Engineers and teams across AWS Applied AI Solutions
Scout and recruit top technical talent, actively growing the engineering community
Drive a strong engineering excellence and operational culture across all products and teams
Shape technical direction for systems critical to shipping finished AI solutions to enterprise customers
Balance technical expertise with strong analytical skills to make informed architectural decisions
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 with big data systems, analytics, containerized microservices, serverless functions, and event-driven architecture
Experience shipping business-grade AI solutions and agentic systems
Hands-on experience building and iterating on AI/ML-driven products, including prototypes through production systems
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company's reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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, CA, Palo Alto - 230,100.00 - 311,200.00 USD annually
USA, CA, SAN FRANCISCO - 230,100.00 - 311,200.00 USD annually
USA, CA, San Francisco - 230,100.00 - 311,200.00 USD annually
USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 230,100.00 - 311,200.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York City - 220,100.00 - 297,700.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New york city - 220,100.00 - 297,700.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Herndon - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, BELLEVUE - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Bellevue - 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