Software Development Engineer, Optical Inter-Satellite Link

Amazon Inc

Confirmed live yesterday High trust

Quick summary

Work type: On-site
Location: Northridge, CARedmond, WA
Salary: $143,700–$194,400 / yr
Posted: 29 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live yesterday
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

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Salary context

Competitive pay

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $165k

This role $169k

$138k most similar roles pay here $200k

This role pays more than 63% of similar roles. Most pay $152,000–$177,900 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $169k versus about $165k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Amazon Inc

Amazon Inc. is the world''s largest e-commerce and cloud computing company, operating the Amazon marketplace, AWS cloud platform, Prime subscription services, Alexa voice AI, and logistics infrastructure. Industry: E-Commerce & Cloud Computing

Amazon Inc currently has 457 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $143,700–$194,400 across 447 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Software Development Engineer, Optical Inter-Satellite Link

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As a Software Development Engineer, Amazon Leo Optical Inter-Satellite Link, you will join a multi-disciplinary team to develop and optimize highly reliable flight software for optical inter-satellite link systems. You will design and implement fault-tolerant, redundant software for orbital satellites, ranging from low-level device drivers and real-time control loops to high-level autonomous behaviors and AI/ML-driven decision-making. Your daily work involves building test, validation, and simulation infrastructure, managing the full lifecycle of embedded software delivery, and performing board bring-up with components like Ethernet, PCIe, SPI, and I2C. You will utilize C/C++, Linux systems, and ARM-based SoCs to solve complex space-based networking problems. The role focuses on maintaining high-speed laser communications between satellites moving at orbital velocities while ensuring safe over-the-air updates and robust hardware-software integration for advanced optical communication systems.

What does a Software Development Engineer earn in California?

Median $217725 from 77 postings across 8 companies.

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Skills

C C++ Embedded Linux RTOS QEMU KVM ARM FPGA Ethernet PCIe SPI I2C Hardware-in-the-loop Simulation

What you'll do

Develop and optimize reliable flight software for optical inter-satellite links using embedded Linux and RTOS.
Architect fault-tolerant, redundant systems to maintain satellite communication links without ground intervention.
Build and maintain test, validation, and simulation infrastructure including hardware-in-the-loop and automated regression suites.
Manage the full lifecycle of embedded software from requirements decomposition and architecture through deployment in orbit.
Improve over-the-air (OTA) update processes to safely deliver firmware updates to the satellite constellation.
Lead board bring-up and integration by developing and debugging low-level Board Support Package components.
Validate peripheral connectivity for hardware components such as Ethernet, PCIe, SPI, and I2C.

What we're looking for

Candidates must be a U.S. citizen, national, permanent resident, or granted asylum/refugee status for export control compliance.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.
3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience.
3+ years of non-internship design or architecture experience focusing on patterns, reliability, and scaling.
Experience in embedded development using C/C++.
Experience writing low-level drivers.
Experience with Linux system virtualization (QEMU/KVM) (preferred).
Experience developing space systems software, optical communication systems, laser terminals, or high-speed serial interfaces (preferred).
Experience with ARM-based SoCs (preferred).
Experience with FPGA-adjacent software development including register-level interfaces and DMA engines (preferred).