Embedded software engineer on Amazon Leo's VirtSat team: builds and scales a virtual-satellite simulation platform on EC2 Graviton bare-metal, owning the KVM/QEMU virtualization layer, VM lifecycle, provisioning pipelines, and network virtualization. Core tech: Rust/C/C++, embedded Linux (Yocto/Ubuntu ARM64), AWS (EC2, SSM, AMIs), WireGuard.
Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network. Our mission is to deliver fast, reliable internet connectivity to customers beyond the reach of existing networks. From individual households to schools, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies, Amazon Leo will serve people and organizations operating in locations without reliable connectivity.
About the Role:
We are looking for an Embedded Software Development Engineer to build and scale - VirtSat (Leo's Virtual Satellite Simulation platform). VirtSat enables developers and pipelines across Leo to create, provision, and test virtual satellites, ground gateways, customer terminals, and TT&C antennas on EC2 bare-metal infrastructure running KVM/QEMU.
As part of role, you will own the Graviton virtualization layer, managing VM lifecycle, LRU boot, subsystem provisioning, and software deployment for every virtual entity in the constellation. You will work at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, embedded Linux, and satellite operations building the platform that every Leo satellite software release is tested on before launch.
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
What You'll Work On :
* Own the Graviton bare-metal virtualization layer — KVM/QEMU VM management, subsystem start/stop, health monitoring, and fault recovery.
* Develop embedded software in Rust, C, C++, or other modern languages for the virtualization and emulation layer
* Write device drivers and system applications for the various satellite systems running on virtual hardware
* Write software to interact with micro-controllers and emulated hardware peripherals (FPGA, HSM, sensors)
* Build and maintain the custom AMI pipeline that pre-configures all satellite dependencies, reducing provisioning time and preventing dependency drift
* Develop and optimize provisioning scripts that deploy satellite software (LEP images, firmware, certificates) onto emulated LRUs via SSM
* Implement plugin framework extensions for new LRU types (satellites, GGMAs, GTMAs, customer terminals) on the Graviton host
* Build network virtualization between VMs — WireGuard tunnels, inter-entity networking, and TT&C link emulation
* Optimize boot-time and provisioning latency for QEMU-based satellite instances
* Debug and resolve issues at the intersection of host OS (Ubuntu/ARM64), guest OS (LEP/Yocto), and QEMU emulation
* Develop fidelity improvements — HSM crypto emulation, EFUSE emulation, CAN bus simulation, and error injection frameworks
* Work closely with other software and hardware teams to support board bring-up and integration testing