Principal Engineer, Nitro System, EC2

EC2 is seeking an experienced Principal Engineer to drive technical excellence across our Nitro System organization. You will architect the future of EC2 virtualization, leading innovation in the Nitro Hypervisor, Instance Features including Nitro Enclaves and Confidential Computing, Nitro Card virtualization components, and the engineering of new EC2 Core Platforms—directly impacting millions of customers running workloads on AWS.

As a Principal Engineer, you will shape the technical strategy for one of the most critical systems in cloud computing, working at the intersection of hardware and software to deliver near bare-metal performance with industry-leading security. This role offers the opportunity to influence the architecture of systems processing billions of customer requests daily while mentoring engineers and driving cross-organizational technical decisions.

Key job responsibilities
- Define and drive the technical roadmap for Nitro Hypervisor, Nitro Card components, and EC2 Core Platform engineering across multiple quarters
- Architect and implement Nitro Hypervisor features supporting new instance families across Intel, AMD, and Graviton processors
- Lead development of Nitro Card firmware bundles and system services running on virtualization hardware
- Participate in end-to-end technical delivery for new EC2 Core Platform bring-up, from hardware specifications through production deployment
- Design and deliver confidential computing capabilities including Nitro Enclaves, memory encryption, and cryptographic attestation
- Lead deep-dive investigations for complex production issues spanning hypervisor, firmware, hardware, and control plane interactions
- Mentor and grow engineers across multiple teams through code reviews, design reviews, and hands-on technical guidance
- Drive kernel upgrades to latest LTS versions while maintaining backward compatibility and minimizing downstream patch footprint
- Design qualification processes for new platforms ensuring high reliability and minimal annual failure rates
- Participate in on-call rotation providing expert-level support for production systems and drive operational excellence initiatives


A day in the life
As a Principal Engineer in the EC2 Nitro System organization, you will oversee multiple projects collaborating with internal and external organizations. Projects range from designing and launching next generation EC2 Core Platforms to building Nitro Hypervisor features, Nitro Card components, and confidential computing capabilities. You'll participate in day-to-day development, debugging, and release management to deliver customer value. Your work spans collaboration across time zones, including the US West Coast, engaging with Nitro Firmware, Launch, hardware engineering, control plane, and service teams. You'll balance hands-on technical work with strategic leadership through architecture reviews and mentorship.

About the team
The EC2 team builds the foundation of modern cloud computing, delivering the Nitro System that powers millions of instances globally. Our mission is providing customers with near bare-metal performance while maintaining industry-leading security. You'll collaborate with engineers across firmware, hardware, control plane, and service teams to solve complex problems at the hardware-software intersection—from hypervisor optimizations to confidential computing features protecting customer workloads. Based in Berlin, we're a global team that values technical excellence, continuous learning, and sustainable engineering practices. You'll help customers run their most critical workloads securely and efficiently.

Basic Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
- Experience in professional software development building scalable production systems
- Experience with systems programming in C/C++ or similar low-level languages
- Experience with systems software, embedded systems or distributed systems
- Experience leading technical initiatives across multiple teams
- Proficiency in software engineering practices for the full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations
- Experience communicating with peers, technical teams, and senior management to collect requirements and describe technical designs
- Openness to leveraging AI tools and technologies to enhance productivity and technical problem-solving

Preferred Qualifications

- Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
- Experience with firmware development (BIOS, UEFI, embedded systems)
- Background in hardware-software co-design or platform engineering
- Experience with high-performance computing, real-time systems, or bare-metal optimization
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to present complex technical information clearly to diverse audiences
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to navigate ambiguity
- Experience mentoring engineers and providing technical leadership across organizations
- Track record of delivering complex, cross-functional projects from concept to production


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