Software Development Manager - (Payload SW), STAR (System Test Automation and Regression)

About the role

The STAR (System Test Automation and Regression) team for payload test automation buil

Requirements

• Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.
• Key job responsibilities
• Lead, hire, and develop a team of software development engineers building test automation for payload software.
• Set technical direction and own the roadmap for payload test automation-decide what to build, what to defer, and how to sequence investments for maximum impact.
• Drive operational excellence for nightly regression runs: own pass rate metrics, defect escape rates, and cycle time improvements.
• Partner with payload software, systems engineering, RF, and operations teams to align test automation priorities with program milestones and launch schedules.
• Remove obstacles and make resourcing tradeoffs that keep the team focused on highest-value work.
• Establish engineering best practices for the team: coding standards, code reviews, design documentation, and operational runbooks.
• Own hiring bar and talent strategy-build a pipeline of candidates, conduct interviews, and make hiring decisions that strengthen the team.
• Develop engineers through coaching, stretch assignments, and clear career growth paths. Manage performance and deliver direct feedback.
• Drive architecture decisions for test frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and data pipelines in collaboration with senior engineers on the team.
• Represent the team's work and roadmap to senior leadership. Communicate status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly.
• Collaborate with internal and external customers to define and implement system architectures for integrated test venues.
• Identify automation opportunities that reduce manual testing effort and accelerate release cycles.
• Build mechanisms for tracking and improving test coverage, reliability, and operational health.

Additional Information

Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network delivering fast, reliable internet connectivity to customers beyond the reach of existing networks. Behind every satellite in our constellation is a payload - the communication system that makes connectivity possible. Before a single satellite reaches orbit, its payload software must be validated, stressed, and proven through rigorous automated testing. We are hiring a Software Development Manager to lead the team that builds automation validating payload software at scale. You will own the people, strategy, and execution for a team of software development engineers working at the intersection of satellite communication systems and test automation. Your team develops frameworks that test how payload software manages signal routing, beam forming, frequency coordination, and network handoffs-and your job is to ensure they deliver results while growing as engineers. This role requires a leader who can operate in ambiguity, make tradeoffs between competing priorities, and build a high-performing team in a fast-moving environment. You will set technical direction, remove obstacles, hire and develop talent, and drive operational excellence for nightly regression runs that gate satellite production and launch readiness. What Makes This Role Different You are not managing a generic software team. Your engineers must understand how payload software works-signal processing, protocol stacks, fault handling-to build automation that validates real operational scenarios. You need to hire for this intersection of software engineering and satellite systems, develop engineers who can operate in both domains, and set a technical bar that produces automation trustworthy enough to gate launch decisions. You own the outcome: if nightly regression runs are unreliable, you fix the people, process, or technology problem causing it. Export Control Requirement: Due to applicable export control laws and regulations, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum. Key job responsibilities - Lead, hire, and develop a team of software development engineers building test automation for payload software. - Set technical direction and own the roadmap for payload test automation-decide what to build, what to defer, and how to sequence investments for maximum impact. - Drive operational excellence for nightly regression runs: own pass rate metrics, defect escape rates, and cycle time improvements. - Partner with payload software, systems engineering, RF, and operations teams to align test automation priorities with program milestones and launch schedules. - Remove obstacles and make resourcing tradeoffs that keep the team focused on highest-value work. - Establish engineering best practices for the team: coding standards, code reviews, design documentation, and operational runbooks. - Own hiring bar and talent strategy-build a pipeline of candidates, conduct interviews, and make hiring decisions that strengthen the team. - Develop engineers through coaching, stretch assignments, and clear career growth paths. Manage performance and deliver direct feedback. - Drive architecture decisions for test frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, and data pipelines in collaboration with senior engineers on the team. - Represent the team's work and roadmap to senior leadership. Communicate status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly. - Collaborate with internal and external customers to define and implement system architectures for integrated test venues. - Identify automation opportunities that reduce manual testing effort and accelerate release cycles. - Build mechanisms for tracking and improving test coverage, reliability, and operational health. A day in the life You start with a 1:1 with an engineer who is stuck on a design decision-you ask questions that help them see the tradeoff clearly and make their own call. At standup, you notice the team is splitting focus across too many priorities; you make a decision to defer one workstream and communicate the rationale. Mid-morning, you review nightly run metrics with your lead engineer-pass rates dropped 2% this week, and you agree on an action plan to address the root cause by Friday. Before lunch, you conduct a phone screen for an open SDE II role-the candidate has strong coding skills but limited systems thinking, and you decide to pass. After lunch, you join a cross-team planning meeting where payload software leadership presents their Q4 roadmap; you identify two features that will require significant new test coverage and begin scoping the work. You end the day preparing talking points for your weekly sync with your manager, where you will propose adding headcount to address a growing coverage gap in beam management testing.

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