Director Engineering Trainium Systems

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is redefining the future of artificial intelligence infrastructure. At the heart of this transformation is Trainium — AWS's family of custom-designed AI accelerator chips and server systems that power some of the world's most demanding machine learning workloads. In 2025, the Trainium Systems organization delivered over one million custom AI chips into production, launched Trainium3 at AWS re:Invent, delivering over 4.4x the compute performance of its predecessor, and activated Project Rainier, one of the world's most powerful AI compute clusters. Built in partnership with Anthropic, Project Rainier features nearly more than one million Trainium2 chips deployed across a dedicated campus in Indiana, delivering more than ten times the compute power used to train Anthropic's previous-generation AI models. With billions of dollars in annualized revenue and investment, and a product roadmap spanning multiple silicon generations, Trainium is one of the fastest growing and most strategically important programs at Amazon. We are seeking a Director of Trainium Servers and Systems to lead all aspects of server hardware and firmware delivery and operations for this rapidly scaling portfolio. This role owns the end-to-end lifecycle of Trainium server products — from baseboard and accelerator card design, through chip-to-chip interconnect and rack-level architecture, to system firmware, fleet operations, and datacenter deployment. The scope spans multiple concurrent product lines including air-cooled and liquid-cooled UltraServers housing up to 144 accelerator chips, high-speed NeuronLink switched fabrics, and next-generation inference-optimized systems — all designed to compete directly with the industry's leading AI accelerator platforms. This leader will manage teams of engineers across hardware, firmware, software, and systems development, fleet operations, and new product introduction, with a global footprint spanning Austin, San Jose, Seattle, and Taiwan, plus indirect oversight of 1,000+ engineers across design and manufacturing partners worldwide. The organization is responsible for driving reduction in time-to-production, from months to weeks, while simultaneously scaling server deliveries to thousands per week while maintaining availability targets across millions of chips. This is a uniquely high-impact role at the intersection of cutting-edge hardware engineering and unprecedented operational scale. You will shape the systems that power AWS's custom silicon strategy — including massive UltraClusters like Project Rainier — enable frontier AI model training and inference for customers like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Amazon Bedrock, and help position AWS Trainium among the top three most widely used AI accelerators globally. If you are passionate about building world-class hardware at massive scale, thrive in fast-moving environments with multiple parallel product launches, and want to directly influence the trajectory of AI infrastructure, we'd love to talk. Key job responsibilitiesDeliver Multi-Generation Trainium Server Products at Unprecedented Speed and Scale Lead the simultaneous execution of multiple concurrent Trainium product lines while reducing chip-to-sellable cycle time, with delivery of millions of chips annually. Success means AWS maintains its competitive position against Google TPU and NVIDIA Blackwell/Rubin while meeting customer commitments. Achieve Fleet Operations Excellence and Industry-Leading Sellable Rates Increase sellable server rates across the Trainium fleet by building world-class fleet operations, test, and repair capabilities. This includes eliminating the current backlog of thousands of unhealthy servers through AI-powered visual inspection, automated diagnostics, and root-cause analysis of subtle connector damage modes — while simultaneously establishing the operational playbooks, tooling, and telemetry infrastructure needed to maintain these rates as the fleet scales to millions of chips across multiple server generations and cooling architectures. Every percentage point of sellable rate improvement at this scale translates to hundreds of millions of dollars in recovered CapEx. Build and Scale a World-Class Hardware Engineering Organization Across Global Sites Rapidly grow the organization to deliver on the rapidly scaling Trainium portfolio, integrating diverse talent pools across Austin, San Jose, Seattle, and Taiwan. Establish deep technical bench strength in emerging disciplines critical to future product generations, including liquid cooling operations, high-speed interconnects (PCIe/UAL/NVL), signal integrity, and near-package optics. Build succession depth among senior leaders, fostering a unified engineering culture across a team that is quickly multiplying. This objective is foundational: the organization's ability to execute on every other strategic priority depends on having the right leaders and engineers in place, operating with high trust and clear accountability across a complex, globally distributed hardware development and operations charter.  Basic Qualifications: 10+ years of experience in server hardware development, system architecture, or hardware engineering, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role (Director or equivalent) managing multi-disciplinary hardware engineering teams of across hardware design, firmware, and/or systems operations Demonstrated track record of delivering complex hardware products from design through high-volume production Experience leading concurrent multi-product hardware programs Deep technical background in at least two of the following domains: server/accelerator board design, high-speed interconnect (PCIe, NVLink, or equivalent), system firmware (BIOS, BMC, or embedded), high speed networking, hyperscale hardware deployment, thermal/mechanical engineering (air or liquid cooling), or signal/power integrityBachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a requisite experience Preferred Qualifications: Experience with AI/ML accelerator, Quantum, or HPC compute infrastructure — familiarity with the unique design, thermal, power, and interconnect challenges of accelerator-dense server architectures (e.g., NVIDIA DGX/HGX, Google TPU, or custom ASIC-based systems) would significantly accelerate onboarding and enable faster technical decision-making across the Trainium product portfolio Experience with liquid cooling technologies at datacenter scale — including direct-to-chip or rear-door liquid cooling design, coolant distribution unit (CDU) integration, or operational management of liquid-cooled infrastructure; this experience would de-risk the TRN3Max pilot and scale-up, which represents one of the role's highest-stakes deliverables Background in high-speed interconnect or networking fabric development — such as PCIe Gen5/Gen6, NVLink, CXL, or custom switch fabric architectures; understanding of collective communication patterns, topology design, and connector reliability at scale would provide immediate value in driving NeuronLink platform maturity and the optical PCIe networking roadmap Experience managing hardware engineering teams across geographically distributed sites, including international locations (particularly Israel, Taiwan, or East Asia) and contract manufacturer/ODM/JDM partnerships — the ability to navigate cross-cultural collaboration, time zone challenges, and indirect management of 1,000+ external engineering resources would accelerate organizational effectiveness Prior experience in a vertically integrated hardware organization that owns the full lifecycle from board-level design through firmware, manufacturing interface, fleet operations, and datacenter deployment — candidates who have operated in this model will more naturally adapt to the end-to-end accountability and cross-functional coordination this role demands MBA or advanced technical degree (MS/PhD) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field — while not required, advanced education in relevant disciplines signals deeper technical foundations that would support the role's need to engage credibly on topics ranging from signal integrity and thermal physics to firmware architecture and advanced packaging Experience with large-scale fleet operations, hardware reliability engineering, or sellable/yield rate optimization — including root-cause analysis methodologies, automated diagnostics, or AI/ML-driven inspection and quality systems; this background would provide a head start on the fleet operations excellence and sellable rate objectives that are central to the role's first-year deliverables 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 https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations 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 https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.USA, TX, Austin - 264,100.00 - 350,000.00 USD annually