Are you passionate about building the infrastructure that powers the next generation of AI? We are seeking a Principal Software Development Engineer to join the AWS Mantle team and drive the technical vision for our distributed inference engine that serves millions of customers across Amazon Bedrock. In this role, you will define and execute on large-scale, ambiguous technical challenges at the intersection of machine learning systems, distributed computing, and security—shaping how the world accesses foundation models.
Set the long-term technical direction for a globally distributed, high-performance ML inference platform serving models from industry-leading AI providers
Own end-to-end system design decisions that directly impact latency, reliability, and scalability for millions of customers worldwide
Influence engineering strategy across Amazon Bedrock, partnering with senior leadership to align technical investments with business outcomes
Raise the engineering bar through exemplary system design, mentorship, and contributions to the broader AWS engineering community
Navigate complex trade-offs across performance, security, and cost while maintaining the highest standards for operational excellence
Key job responsibilities As a Principal SDE on the Mantle team, you will serve as the technical conscience and strategic thought leader for one of AWS's most critical AI infrastructure platforms. You will architect solutions that are reliable, scalable, and secure—operating at the cutting edge of distributed systems where millisecond-level latency and zero-trust security are non-negotiable.
Design and evolve the architecture of Mantle's distributed inference engine, including capacity management, model onboarding pipelines, and quality-of-service controls
Drive cross-organizational initiatives spanning multiple AWS teams to deliver seamless, OpenAI-compatible API experiences with Zero Operator Access (ZOA) security guarantees
Lead technical strategy for scaling inference to support rapid onboarding of new foundation models while maintaining global availability and performance SLAs
Author and champion technical vision documents, influence product roadmaps, and represent the team in executive-level architectural reviews
Mentor and develop senior engineers, fostering a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, and customer obsession
About the team The AWS Mantle team is building the next-generation inference engine that powers Amazon Bedrock—providing secure, enterprise-grade access to high-performing foundation models from the world's leading AI companies. Our mission is to simplify and accelerate how models are served at global scale, with an unwavering commitment to customer trust through innovations like our Zero Operator Access architecture, designed so that no person—whether from AWS, a customer, or a model provider—can ever access customer inference data.
We operate at massive scale, serving inference requests across all major AWS regions with sophisticated automated capacity management and unified resource pools
Our team values builders who thrive in ambiguity, think long-term, and are excited to define the future of AI infrastructure from the ground up
We foster a collaborative, inclusive environment where diverse perspectives drive better solutions—and where the best ideas win regardless of where they originate
We ship fast and iterate with purpose, having rapidly expanded from launch to supporting models from OpenAI, DeepSeek, Google, Mistral, NVIDIA, and more
We believe work should be meaningful and fun—you'll join a team that takes pride in making history at the forefront of generative AI
Basic Qualifications
- 10+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 10+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, a related field, or equivalent experience
- 8+ years of programming experience with at least one modern language such as Java, C++, Python, Go, or Rust
- Experience driving cross-organizational technical strategy and delivering results in complex, ambiguous environments where the business problem and technical approach are not pre-defined
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree or equivalent in computer science, machine learning, engineering, or related fields, or PhD
- Experience building large-scale machine learning and AI solutions at Internet scale
- Experience working with Advanced Compute technologies including, but not limited to: Accelerated Compute, High Performance Compute, Visual/Spatial Compute, and/or IoT.
- Experience writing and publishing technical documents or equivalent
- Familiarity with inference frameworks such as vLLM, TensorRT, or Triton Inference Server
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, WA, Seattle - 200,100.00 - 270,600.00 USD annually