Director of Engineering KSET, Project Kuiper

Project Kuiper is an initiative to launch a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Like Amazon’s other businesses, Kuiper’s success will be based on customer trust, and that trust is based on world-class security and privacy for customer information.

The Director of Kuiper Solutions Engineering owns mission-critical projects to deploy technical solutions, architecture, applications and support for Government Customers’ satellite communication systems. This role will allow you to lead the teams responsible for the satellite systems, solutions and infrastructure used to guarantee the health of every component on each satellite from manufacturing to end-of-life. The successful candidate will be a creative technical leader, able to work and provide organizational and technical leadership to a large team of leaders and engineers. Curiosity, strong judgment, inventiveness, and high standards are critical personal characteristics.


Key job responsibilities
• Hands-on leadership to define, implement and operate the end-to-end architecture, infrastructure and test for system designs
• Establish Lifecycle Best Practices, Frameworks, Guidelines, Standards, and Processes within engineering and within Systems Engineering, Components & Modules Group, production, programs
• Ensure domain expertise of the team and develop technical talent to sustain expertise within the organization in support of current and developing needs
• Strategic plans for engineering processes and tools to support technology road map and business plans
• Cultivate innovation: research, study, and propose the use of advanced technologies to be leveraged in the development of new and improved products
• Ensure engineering input to program technical risk and opportunity, and resolve critical technical issues
• Collaboration with Business Development (Kuiper Government Solutions – KGS) to prioritize and support proposal inputs
• Partnership with Kuiper engineering and operations teams to leverage and adapt technologies and processes to deliver customer solutions
• Site leadership of Kuiper facility in Los Angeles, CA

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field is required; advanced degree a plus
• 10+ years of experience in spacecraft (or aircraft) system/subsystem engineering and operations
• 5+ years of aerospace leadership experience working with multi-functional engineering teams and leading leaders
• Experience in the development and qualification of space hardware, software, and operations
• Ability to resolve and close technical issues and challenges with competing demands
• Hands-on experience, including design reviews, manufacturing and, operations

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with aerospace and avionics systems, and techniques used for high reliability/robust design
• 10+ years of experience of managing products, budgets and justifying resource needs to senior leaders and finance partners
• Defining and developing satellite communications systems and payload architectures
• Developing space segment payload interface control documents (ICDs)
• Leading spacecraft payload integration plans and end-to-end system verification and validation.
• Knowledge of orbital dynamics or classical orbital elements.
• Knowledgeable depth in satellite communication theory
• Exceptional skills in Systems Architecture, Systems Development & Analysis, and foundational technologies such as networking, communications, compute, storage, and databases



Amazon is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://www.amazon.jobs/en/disability/us.


Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $215,600/year in our lowest geographic market up to $335,500/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. Applicants should apply via our inter