Saturday, September 29, 2007

Principal Software Development Engineer at Amazon

Principal Engineers provide technical leadership at Amazon.com. They help establish performance and technical standards for the software we build and help drive Amazon’s overall technical architecture and engineering methodologies. They’re responsible for maintaining and raising our technical standards by mentoring and reviewing the work of other engineers.

Principal Engineers recommend and build high quality, architecturally sound systems that align to the business needs of the organization they support. They think globally when building systems, ensuring we build high performing, scalable systems that fit well together.

Principal Engineers are pragmatic visionaries who can translate business needs into workable technology solutions. Their expertise is deep and broad. They are hands on, producing both detailed technical work (i.e. writing code) and high-level architectural designs. They often provide leadership on the most complex technology applications in the company.

Principal Engineer:
  • Has authority over technical decisions for particular projects within a part of our business.
  • Proposes and sells new ideas to department managers and engineering leaders. Helps develop long-term department strategies and influences group leadership decisions.
  • Should have played a technical leadership role for several complete product cycles. Has built and owned large, complex systems.
  • Should be the Go-to person in at least one major functional or technical area
  • Manages the most complex projects, with significant bottom-line impact. Delivers on short-term and long-term targets.
  • Mentors and trains the engineering community on complex technical issues
  • Requires a B.S. degree or higher in Computer Science with 10-20 years of relevant, broad engineering experience.
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