System Development Manager Jobs in Washington, DC

The Amazon Dedicated Cloud (ADC) Platform Engineering and Emerging Technology (PEET) Periphery team is searching for a talented, detail-oriented Systems Development Manager (SysDM) to support AWS activities in US ADC regions supporting the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.
The Aperture team more specifically supports End User Compute (EUC) including the Amazon WorkSpaces service for US ADC customers. Amazon WorkSpaces provides cloud-native virtual desktops, secure web browsers, and application streaming, enabling productivity while maintaining a strong security posture, improving agility, and reducing cost.
A SysDM will work to solve service-centric technical and business problems, devise strategy, and facilitate technology solutions that may not yet be defined. They will deliver independently, with limited guidance, across cross-functional initiatives. Additionally, individuals must act as force multipliers, understand escalation, and find a path forward in difficult situations. The role also necessitates understanding security risks caused by technical complexity, and being able to make trade-offs between short-term and long-term needs.
From Day 1, SysDMs are given ownership of a distributed team of engineers responsible for the operational health of EUC services in secure, air-gapped cloud environments. You'll own the team's roadmap, from hiring and developing talent, to defining automation strategy, to ensuring your services meet or exceed their availability and performance targets. You won't wait for direction; you'll assess the landscape, identify the highest-impact opportunities, and start driving results.
On a day-to-day basis, you will lead your team through a mix of operational and strategic work. That means triaging and resolving service issues, driving root cause analysis to prevent repeat incidents, and building the dashboards and metrics that keep your team ahead of problems rather than reacting to them. You'll partner with service teams and program managers to support new region builds and feature launches, ensuring operational readiness before go-live. You'll also spend meaningful time on your people, coaching engineers, removing blockers, shaping career paths, and building a team culture grounded in ownership and continuous improvement.
This position requires that the candidate selected must currently possess and maintain an active TS/SCI security clearance. The position further requires that, after start, the selected candidate obtain and maintain an active TS/SCI security clearance with polygraph or commensurate clearance for each government agency for which they perform AWS work.
Key job responsibilities
Lead, hire, develop, and retain a team of engineers supporting EUC services in secure, air-gapped AWS ADC regions;
- Own your team's operational roadmap, working backwards from customer problems to define priorities, scope work, and deliver results;
- Drive operational excellence through automation, metrics, and process improvements that reduce manual toil and enable the team to scale;
- Triage and resolve service issues, lead root cause analysis, and implement preventative fixes so problems do not repeat;
- Partner with service teams, program managers, and cross-functional stakeholders to support new region builds, feature launches, and service parity across ADC regions;
- Identify and manage technical and operational risks, clearly communicating trade-offs and mitigation strategies to stakeholders;
- Track and report your team's progress using metrics that capture customer impact, SLA compliance, and system health.
About the team
Why AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating - that's why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.
AWS Infrastructure Services (AIS)
AWS Infrastructure Services owns the design, planning, delivery, and operation of all AWS global infrastructure. In other words, we're the people who keep the cloud running. We support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain - and we're looking for talented people who want to help.
Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, it's in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.
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 we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there's nothing we can't achieve in the cloud.
Mentorship and 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, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.
Diverse Experiences
Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred 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.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree, or CSSLP (Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional)
- 5+ years of relevant systems engineering, software development, or infrastructure engineering experience
- 3+ years of experience managing engineering teams, including hiring, developing, and retaining talent
- Experience operating in a 24x7 production environment supporting mission-critical services
- Experience with Linux/Unix systems administration, networking, and infrastructure automation
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Current, active US Government Security Clearance of Top Secret with SCI eligibility or above
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience managing engineering teams supporting cloud computing services at scale
- Experience with support procedures and methodologies for production environments, including ticketing, monitoring, metrics, and SLA management
- Experience improving systems through architecture, design patterns, reliability, and operational scaling
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data and metrics to drive decisions and measure impact
- Experience working across organizational boundaries, bringing together people with diverse perspectives to deliver results
- Experience with Agile engineering practices (Kanban, Scrum, continuous delivery)
- Familiarity with at least one modern programming or scripting language (Python, Java, Go, or similar)
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 - 166,300.00 - 225,000.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Herndon - 166,300.00 - 225,000.00 USD annually