Principal Solutions Architect

Overview

Description

We’re seeking a Principal Solutions Architect who combines deep hands-on technical expertise with the ability to build scalable mechanisms that amplify the effectiveness of our Startup Solutions Architecture team.

This role requires a rare blend of builder’s depth and strategic impact : someone who can still design, code, and operate systems at scale, while also creating programs, frameworks, and reusable assets that multiply impact across hundreds of startups.

Why This Role

At AWS, we’re looking for builders who scale impact. The successful candidate will combine :

Deep technical expertise (still hands-on)

Scalable mechanism design (programs, frameworks, enablement)

Startup empathy (credible in front of developers and co-founders)

AI / data native perspective (helping startups turn data into their moat)

This role offers the chance to shape how AWS engages startups at scale — while working at the frontier of cloud + data + AI innovation.

Key job responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Mechanism Building

Design and implement scalable programs, reusable assets, and automation tools that amplify the impact of the Startup SA org.

Create reference architectures, IaC templates, and enablement content to accelerate solution delivery across startups.

Develop systematic approaches to capture, codify, and share technical insights from the field back into the org.

Mentor SAs and drive technical upskilling programs that elevate the entire team’s capabilities.

Domain Expertise & Hands-on Impact

Principal SAs for Startups should have depth and expertise in one of the following technical domains, but the technical curiosity to become proficient in all :

ML / AI Infrastructure :

Architect training and inference systems at scale (distributed training, LoRA / QLoRA, quantization, GPU / TPU optimization).

Design end-to-end ML pipelines and MLOps workflows (data prep, labeling, model registry, deployment).

Build and optimize model serving architectures and inference systems for cost and latency.

Cloud Native & Kubernetes :

Lead design and ops excellence for Kubernetes / EKS, service mesh, microservices, and serverless-first architectures.

Ensure security, compliance, and observability in containerized workloads.

DevOps & Reliability :

Drive GitOps-first workflows, CI / CD at scale, IaC (Terraform / CDK), and automated testing frameworks.

Apply SRE best practices : monitoring, incident management, resilience, and scaling patterns.

Data Strategy & Foundations :

Advise startups on proprietary data strategy as a moat : collection, quality, labeling, governance.

Architect data pipelines (ETL / ELT, streaming, orchestration) and integrate with modern analytics platforms (Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Databricks).

Guide adoption of feature stores, vector databases, and lakehouse patterns to enable ML / RAG use cases.

Ensure compliance and governance across sensitive workloads (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2).

Technical Trend Analysis & Strategic Impact

Maintain deep understanding of emerging technical trends in GenAI, cloud, and data ecosystems.

Translate insights into actionable guidance for startups and scalable mechanisms for the org.

Provide forward-looking perspectives on technology adoption, evolution, and competitive advantage.

Scaling & Developer Enablement

Build repeatable solutions and reference architectures addressing common startup pain points.

Publish blogs, whitepapers, open-source repos, and technical presentations that extend reach beyond direct engagements.

Act as a “co-founder whisperer” — translating complex technical trade-offs into pragmatic startup-stage guidance.

About the team

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.

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.

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 in the cloud.

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 (gender diversity) conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

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.

Basic Qualifications

12+ years of specific technology domain areas (e.g. software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, data & analytics) experience

Deep technical expertise in multiple domains including ML / AI systems, cloud-native architectures (Kubernetes, microservices, serverless), DevOps / SRE practices, and data engineering / strategy, with advanced proficiency in languages like Python, Go, TypeScript, and Java.

Demonstrated track record of scaling technical impact through building enablement programs, mentoring teams, and establishing best practices that transform individual expertise into organizational capabilities.

Strong technical leadership credentials including creating technical content, contributing to open-source projects, delivering thought leadership, and effectively communicating with audiences from engineers to C-suite executives.

Comprehensive understanding of modern AI / ML ecosystems (LangChain, Hugging Face, vLLM, Ray) combined with expertise in cloud-native security, compliance, and observability frameworks to build production-grade systems.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience building, deploying, and operating systems and infra at hyperscale.

A history of contributions to open-source or developer communities.

A strong portfolio of technical publications, talks, or thought leadership.

The credibility to pair-program with a founder one day, then brief a C-suite on trends the next.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants : Job duties for this position include : work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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.

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $164,500 / year in our lowest geographic market up to $284,300 / year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and / or other benefits. For more information, please visit https : / / www.aboutamazon.com / workplace / employee-benefits . This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site.

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