Software Development Engineer, Amazon Optics
Amazon· Internet & Cloud Services· Oct 21, 2026 · 7d ago
Herndon, Virginia, USA
In office
Full-time
Mid
$144K–$194K
3+ years exp
Job description
The Amazon Optics Video team is looking for a Software Development Engineer to build and operate the core video services that secure Amazon's physical sites worldwide. You will design, develop, and maintain production services that power video streaming, recording, and camera management for over 300,000 cameras globally.
Your work directly protects every Amazon data center, corporate office, and facility. You will build systems that enable security operators to stream live video, record continuously, manage cameras at scale, and extract image frames on demand.
Key job responsibilities
Design, implement, and deploy features across nine (9) production video services including cloud-based streaming, continuous recording, on-premises recording, camera lifecycle management, and image extraction.
Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code in a production environment serving security-critical workloads.
Participate in on-call rotations and drive operational excellence for video infrastructure across all regions.
Collaborate with customer groups spanning Data Center Security, Security Operations Centers, Analytics, and infrastructure teams.
Contribute to architecture decisions across cloud and edge computing, working with services spanning AWS (S3, CloudFront, ECS, EC2, Kinesis) and embedded applications running on camera hardware.
Drive automation to reduce operational burden. Every feature must reduce the number of humans required to onboard or troubleshoot a site.
Participate in code reviews, design discussions, and operational readiness reviews.
A day in the life
The Video team sits within Amazon Optics, the organization responsible for physical security technology across all Amazon sites. The team owns the full video lifecycle: camera provisioning, live streaming, cloud and on-premises recording, and image extraction. Team members are distributed across the US with concentration in the DMV area, New York, and Nashville.
About the team
Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the 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.
Diverse Experiences
Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the 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 Amazon Security?
At Amazon, security is central to maintaining customer trust and delivering delightful customer experiences. Our organization is responsible for creating and maintaining a high bar for security across all of Amazon’s products and services. We offer talented security professionals the chance to accelerate their careers with opportunities to build experience in a wide variety of areas including cloud, devices, retail, entertainment, healthcare, operations, and physical stores.
Inclusive Team Culture
In Amazon Security, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Ongoing DEI events and learning experiences inspire us to continue learning and to embrace our uniqueness. Addressing the toughest security challenges requires that we seek out and celebrate a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and voices.
Training & 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, training, and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.
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.
- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- 1+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience
- 1+ years of Object Oriented Design experience
- Experience programming with at least one software programming language
- 3+ 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
- Experience with AWS Services including EC2, Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, SQS
- Experience with video streaming or media delivery systems
- Experience with edge computing, embedded systems, or IoT device management
- Experience with camera protocols (RTSP, ONVIF) or video codecs (H.264/H.265)
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 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, MD, Annapolis Junction - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 158,100.00 - 213,800.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Herndon - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually
Application prep
Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.
Keywords to mirror
awsjava
- Platform
- amazon
- Effort
- medium
Benefits
Benefits detected in the listing.
Health Insurance
Dental
Vision
401(K)
Paid Time Off
Parental Leave