Job description

Lead the technical strategy for a greenfield startup team building AI-powered vertical advertising products — simplifying full-funnel solutions at internet scale with agentic AI models across strategic verticals including financial services, automotive, and local businesses. There is no known answer or existing pattern to follow — we are defining the space from the ground up. Amazon Advertising is building this team to diversify demand and transform how vertical advertisers grow on Amazon through specialized, AI-driven advertising experiences. You'll partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures and making foundational technical decisions that will shape the product for years to come. This is an ambiguous, fast-moving environment where the problems are big, the solutions are yet to be invented, and the impact is immediate. If you're energized by building state-of-the-art products from scratch and shaping the future of AI-driven advertising, this is your team. Key job responsibilities - Own the technical strategy and architectural direction for a business-critical initiative — designing, developing, launching, and maintaining AI-powered advertising solutions that simplify the advertiser experience across strategic verticals - Partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures - Design and build end-to-end services and platforms from the ground up, making foundational technical decisions that shape the product for years to come - Drive cross-functional collaboration across engineering, science, and product teams to deliver integrated solutions that balance advertiser needs with customer experience - Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies — including agentic AI models — to accelerate product development and unlock new advertising capabilities - Mentor engineers, establish engineering best practices, and raise the technical bar as the team scales - Influence the long-term technical vision while delivering iterative, high-impact results in a fast-paced startup environment A day in the life You might start your morning reviewing a technical design document, providing feedback that helps a teammate refine their approach. By mid-morning, you're deep in code — prototyping a critical interface or refactoring a component to improve reliability. After lunch, you join a cross-team architecture discussion where you advocate for a pragmatic path forward. Later, you pair with a junior engineer on a tricky problem, helping them break it down into manageable pieces. Throughout the day, you move fluidly between hands-on coding, technical leadership, and collaboration. About the team Our team is developing a fine-tuned LLM trained on proprietary ads data to power the next generation of advertiser experiences. The work is highly ambiguous and everyone on the team has the opportunity to lead complex efforts where there are no existing solutions or playbooks to start from. - 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience - 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience - 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience - Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team - 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience - Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent 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. 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 amazon.jobs 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 amazon.jobs . USA, CA, Palo Alto - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually USA, WA, SEATTLE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

Requirements

Must-haves

Key job responsibilities
Partner closely with Principal Engineers and Scientists to define the engineering roadmap, translating ambiguous business problems into scalable system architectures
Design and build end-to-end services and platforms from the ground up, making foundational technical decisions that shape the product for years to come
Drive cross-functional collaboration across engineering, science, and product teams to deliver integrated solutions that balance advertiser needs with customer experience
Evaluate and adopt emerging technologies — including agentic AI models — to accelerate product development and unlock new advertising capabilities
Mentor engineers, establish engineering best practices, and raise the technical bar as the team scales
Influence the long-term technical vision while delivering iterative, high-impact results in a fast-paced startup environment
A day in the life
About the team
5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
USA, CA, Palo Alto - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

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Keywords to mirror

aillm

Platform: amazon
Effort: medium

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Health Insurance

Dental

Vision

401(K)

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave