Description

About Amazon Prime Air
Amazon Prime Air is building a future where drones safely and efficiently deliver packages to customers in 30 minutes or less. Our teams are pushing the boundaries of aerospace engineering, autonomy, and software development to make this vision a reality. We operate at the intersection of technology and rigorous safety standards — and we're just getting started.

About the Role
Amazon Prime Air is seeking a Sr. Software Development Manager to lead and grow the Drone Guidance, Navigation & Controls (GNC) software team. This is a unique opportunity to build a world-class engineering team from the ground up, establishing the software development processes and certification frameworks that will define how Prime Air develops safety-critical drone software for years to come.

As the SDM for the GNC software team, you will own the development of embedded software applications and firmware for Prime Air's autonomous delivery drone. You will be responsible for standing up a rigorous, DO-178C-compliant software development process while simultaneously driving innovation in software verification and validation — including the use of AI-powered tooling to achieve and demonstrate 100% software test coverage. In your first year, you will hire and develop a high-performing team of 8–10 Software Development Engineers (SDEs) and Systems Development Engineers (SySDEs), establish end-to-end DO-178C compliance processes, and complete a full certification cycle building upon the existing drone on-vehicle software baseline.

This role requires a leader who is equally comfortable in the technical weeds of real-time embedded systems and in the strategic space of process design, team building, and cross-functional collaboration with hardware, systems engineering, and flight operations teams.







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Key job responsibilities
- Build and lead a team of 8–10 SDEs and SySDEs focused on embedded software application development for Prime Air's autonomous delivery drone
- Establish and own a DO-178C-compliant software development lifecycle, including requirements management, design, implementation, verification, and configuration management processes
- Drive innovation in software verification and test coverage, leveraging AI-powered tools and automation to achieve and demonstrate 100% software test coverage
- Complete a full certification cycle in the first year, building upon the existing on-vehicle software baseline and working toward airworthiness objectives
- Partner cross-functionally with hardware engineering, systems engineering, flight operations, and safety teams to define software requirements and ensure system-level integration
- Recruit, develop, and retain top engineering talent; build a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement
- Define and track engineering metrics, project milestones, and delivery commitments; proactively identify and mitigate risks
- Influence the broader Prime Air engineering organization on software development standards, tooling, and best practices for safety-critical systems
- Communicate clearly with senior leadership on team progress, technical strategy, and certification status