Software Engineering Director Jobs in Renton, WA

The Director of Embedded Software Engineering will lead mission-critical embedded software development for Amazon Leo's satellite bus systems, ensuring our satellite constellation meets aggressive reliability, security, and performance targets from manufacturing through end-of-life operations.
This role owns all embedded software development and systems testing for satellite spacecraft systems - including flight software, real-time operating systems, avionics, and on-orbit software validation. You will architect the software that sits on the satellite, manage the end-to-end software stack to bring up the satellite, and lead comprehensive system testing to ensure spacecraft readiness for launch and on-orbit operations.
This is a highly technical leadership role requiring hands-on embedded software architecture expertise combined with the ability to build and scale high-performing engineering organizations. You will work in constrained hardware environments where computing resources (processing power, memory, power consumption) are severely limited

A satellite has 600+ unique processors - it's like having its own compact data center in space - requiring sophisticated embedded software solutions to coordinate this complexity.
Key job responsibilities
As a group leader, you will anticipate bottlenecks, provide escalation management, anticipate and make tradeoffs, and balance the business needs versus technical constraints. The ability to take large, complex projects and break them down into manageable pieces, develop functional specifications, then deliver them in a successful and timely manner is expected. Maturity, judgment, negotiation skills, ability to influence, analytical talent and leadership are essential to success in this role.
Embedded Software Architecture & Development:
Define and implement end-to-end embedded software architecture for satellite bus systems
Lead development of real-time operating system (RTOS) implementations for spacecraft control, including scheduling algorithms and embedded design patterns
Architect Linux OS solutions for satellite systems
Drive hardware bring-up processes: boot, hardware verification, and comprehensive testing
Design and implement control systems, redundancy management, and health check software
Develop and oversee software for custom ASICs and FPGAs used in spacecraft systems
Architect solutions for complex application synchronization (e.g., global time clock syncing)
Address avionics systems challenges unique to spacecraft operations
Satellite Bus Software & Systems Testing
Lead software development for satellite bus systems, including:
oFlight software and spacecraft control
oAttitude determination and control systems (ADCS)
oPower management and distribution
oThermal control systems
oCommand and data handling
oFault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR)
oOnboard autonomy and health monitoring
Own systems test strategy and execution for satellite systems, including Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation frameworks
Lead on-orbit software testing and validation for operational satellites
Establish multi-test environments and continuous test/deployment pipelines
Drive software quality from prototype satellites to production at scale
Technical Leadership & Collaboration
Provide close partnership with Hardware Engineering teams throughout the development lifecycle - from component design through integration and launch
Create documentation for worldwide regulatory bodies
Work closely with research teams to evaluate and simulate system-level performance
Provide technical leadership while meeting aggressive project schedules
Drive operational excellence and optimize system performance (e.g., battery usage, resource management)
Team Building & Organizational Leadership
Scale the embedded software engineering organization from current state to production needs
Hire and develop exceptional embedded software engineers and leaders
Manage multiple engineering teams as a leader of leaders (100+ people)
Foster a culture of innovation, speed, and technical excellence consistent with a "new space" mindset
Develop talent pipeline for specialized embedded systems expertise