--- title: Sr Forward Deployed Engineer at Amazon in Arlington, VA description: Amazon is hiring for the Sr Forward Deployed Engineer role in Arlington, VA. Pays $168.1K–$227.4K per year. See the full description and apply. type: job url: https://www.foundrole.com/jobs/sr-forward-deployed-engineer-at-amazon-01a19470-f685-7a3d-a216-ddf61831ab9d date: 2026-11-14T19:38:10Z og_description: Join Amazon as Sr Forward Deployed Engineer in Arlington, VA. Pays $168.1K–$227.4K per year. Full-time role. og_image: https://www.foundrole.com/og/k5unrs.png breadcrumbs: - label: Home url: https://www.foundrole.com/ - label: Search url: https://www.foundrole.com/jobs --- | | | |---|---| | **Company** | [Amazon](https://www.foundrole.com/companies/amazon?utm_source=ai_markdown) | | **Location** | Seattle, WA | | **Salary** | $168.1K/yr - $227.4K/yr | | **Type** | Full Time | | **Posted** | Nov 05, 2026 | ## Is this job real? **Ghost job check:** A · Low risk. Probably a real opening. ## Visa sponsorship - **H-1B:** Amazon sponsors H-1B visas. It filed 25,968 H-1B petitions (FY2026 Q1 – FY2026 Q4). - **E-Verify:** No E-Verify enrollment on record for Amazon. ## Pay for similar jobs Most similar jobs pay $175,000 – $198,000 a year (median $198,000). ## Description Application deadline: Nov 15, 2026 This position requires that the candidate selected be a US Citizen and currently possess and maintain an active Top Secret security clearance with SCI eligibility or higher. A Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) embeds directly inside a strategic enterprise customer to design, build, deploy, and run AI-powered production systems alongside the customer's engineering team. FDEs write production-grade software and own outcomes end-to-end, from prototype through enterprise-scale deployment, combining the technical rigor of an AWS SDE with the urgency and ownership required to deliver measurable customer business outcomes. They create reusable architectures, patterns, and engineering mechanisms that scale the entire FDE practice. This position requires that the candidate selected be a US Citizen and currently possess and maintain an active US Government Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility (or higher). Key job responsibilities \- Lead technical delivery across customer engagements. Own the technical strategy and execution for complex, multi-workstream customer AI programs. Make architecture decisions that span multiple services and organizational boundaries. Align technical approach with the customer's long-term technology strategy. Requires up to 25% travel. \- Architect and build production AI systems at scale: multi-agent orchestration, enterprise retrieval systems, and decision intelligence platforms for the most complex engagements. Drive clarity where neither the business problem nor the technology approach is fully defined. Build production systems that handle enterprise-scale traffic and reliability requirements. \- Own production excellence across workstreams. Define operational standards, evaluation frameworks, and production-readiness criteria for AI systems. Establish mechanisms (testing strategies, observability standards, incident-response playbooks) that keep AI systems healthy. \- Scale the team's effectiveness. Define engineering patterns, contribute to the interview and hiring process, and mentor junior FDEs into independent contributors. \- Accelerate customer transformation. Identify systemic opportunities to expand AI adoption, create reusable accelerators that cut time-to-value from months to weeks, and feed learnings back into AWS services and the FDE practice. A day in the life A Senior FDE spends the day leading technical delivery inside the customer's environment: setting the architecture direction across workstreams, building alongside customer engineers on the hardest production AI problems, reviewing designs and code, and mentoring FDEs into independent contributors. About the team ABOUT AWS:   Diverse Experiences Amazon values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred 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 AWS Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses. 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 we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud. Inclusive Team Culture AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do. Mentorship and 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, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional. 10047 ## Basic Qualifications \- 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 \- Active US Government Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility (or higher) \- Experience leading agentic and spec-driven development at production scale (developing AI agents a plus) \- Experience with AI tools: eval frameworks, agent tooling, RAG pipelines, and prompt engineering ## Preferred Qualifications \- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent \- Experience with AWS services \- Experience building or deploying AI/ML applications at enterprise production scale \- Background as a founder, engineering lead, or startup builder with high ownership and urgency \- Experience architecting and delivering complex, multi-component systems in customer production environments \- Experience with React, TypeScript, Python, and/or Go \- Experience leading customer-facing technical projects or managing external stakeholder relationships \- 3+ years of experience working in an Agile, startup, or rapidly scaling environment 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 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 . USA, CO, Denver - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually USA, MD, Jessup - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually USA, VA, Arlington - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually USA, VA, Herndon - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually USA, WA, Seattle - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually ## Skills - Technical Delivery Management - Multi-Agent Systems - Cloud Computing - Stakeholder Management - Amazon Web Services - Technical Leadership - Go - Software Deployment - Python - SCI Clearance - Forward Deployed Engineering - Observability - Prompt Engineering - Software Design Patterns - Mechanical Systems - Artificial Intelligence - Software Testing - Retrieval-Augmented Generation (Rag) - Software Development - AI Agents - Incident Response - TypeScript - Top Secret Security Clearance - Computer Science - Time to Value - Machine Learning - Decision Intelligence ## Benefits - Mental Health - Health Insurance - Dental Insurance - Vision Insurance - Life Insurance - Parental Leave - Paid Time Off (Pto) - 401(k) Plans - Employee Stock Options (ESOs) ## Related - [More jobs at Amazon](https://www.foundrole.com/companies/amazon?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Technology & Software jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Software Development jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software/software-development?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Software Developer / Engineer jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software/software-development/software-developer-engineer?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Forward Deployed Engineer jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/careers/technology-and-software/software-development/software-developer-engineer/forward-deployed-engineer?utm_source=ai_markdown)- [Browse all companies](https://www.foundrole.com/companies?utm_source=ai_markdown) ## Explore this job market - [Internet Marketplace Platforms](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors/technology/internet-marketplace-platforms?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 63124 jobs - [Washington](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/washington?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 61422 jobs - [Amazon](https://www.foundrole.com/companies/amazon?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 20402 jobs - [Seattle, WA](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/washington/seattle?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 18622 jobs ## Related pages - [Internet Marketplace Platforms](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors/technology/internet-marketplace-platforms?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 63124 jobs - [Washington](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/washington?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 61422 jobs - [Amazon](https://www.foundrole.com/companies/amazon?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 20402 jobs - [Seattle, WA](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us/washington/seattle?utm_source=ai_markdown) — 18622 jobs ## Browse - [Companies](https://www.foundrole.com/companies?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs by country](https://www.foundrole.com/locations?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs in the United States by state and city](https://www.foundrole.com/locations/us?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [H1B sponsors by location](https://www.foundrole.com/h1b-sponsors?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [H1B salaries](https://www.foundrole.com/h1b-salaries?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Sectors and industries](https://www.foundrole.com/sectors?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Jobs by career field](https://www.foundrole.com/careers?utm_source=ai_markdown) - [Latest jobs](https://www.foundrole.com/jobs/latest?utm_source=ai_markdown)