Systems Development Engineer Amazon Jobs in Virginia

Join the Amazon Optics team and be at the forefront of building innovative services that secure the foundation of our business from security threats. Our team develops and manages critical services used by all Corporate and AWS data center employees to protect physical sites and preserve the trust that AWS users have placed in us. You'll work with passionate software engineers to build systems that are essential for keeping Corporate and AWS sites secure worldwide.
In this role, you'll design, develop, and optimize solutions where "can't be done" isn't considered an answer

You'll tackle complex architecture challenges with extensible, scalable solutions while always seeking ways to simplify. As a significant contributor throughout the software development lifecycle, you'll build services that are deployed to every AWS region using AWS services in a fully Infrastructure as Code (IaC) environment, where you'll own everything end-to-end.
Key job responsibilities
- Design and implement secure services that protect AWS physical locations, making meaningful contributions to the full software development lifecycle from scoping and design through testing, deployment, and maintenance.
- Take ownership of operational excellence, identifying root causes of issues and implementing permanent fixes while continually improving team operations.
- Work with stakeholders to understand business and customer value, ensuring you deliver solutions that balance customer requirements with team objectives.
- Actively participate in code reviews, providing meaningful feedback to teammates while contributing to documentation that explains how systems are constructed, tested, and operated.
- Automate operational inefficiencies for both the team and customers, building solutions that scale across all AWS regions while maintaining high quality standards.
A day in the life
Your day begins with a quick team standup to align priorities before diving into coding complex security features for the Optics platform. You'll collaborate with teammates to solve challenging architecture problems, review pull requests, and participate in design discussions for upcoming features

Throughout the day, you'll work in an IaC deployment environment where you'll design, develop, test, and deploy solutions. You'll have opportunities to automate operational inefficiencies and stretch yourself technically while helping secure AWS sites globally.
About the team
The Amazon Optics team values strong intuition backed by metrics and data. We provide solutions where "can't be done" isn't considered an answer, taking on seemingly impossible challenges and finding creative solutions

Our services are used around the world to secure assets for every single AWS customer, making our work essential to maintaining trust in the AWS platform. We foster a collaborative environment where you'll share knowledge, help others achieve, and be empowered to grow while taking ownership of critical security services that protect AWS infrastructure.
Diverse Experiences
Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the 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.
Why Amazon Security?
At Amazon, security is central to maintaining customer trust and delivering delightful customer experiences. Our organization is responsible for creating and maintaining a high bar for security across all of Amazon's products and services. We offer talented security professionals the chance to accelerate their careers with opportunities to build experience in a wide variety of areas including cloud, devices, retail, entertainment, healthcare, operations, and physical stores.
Inclusive Team Culture
In Amazon Security, it's in our nature to learn and be curious

Ongoing DEI events and learning experiences inspire us to continue learning and to embrace our uniqueness. Addressing the toughest security challenges requires that we seek out and celebrate a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and voices.
Training & 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, training, and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.
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 flexible work hours and arrangements are part of our culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there's nothing we can't achieve.