Director, Software Development, Customer Service - Customer Engagement Technology

We're Amazon's Customer Engagement Technology Team and our mission is to design Earth's best customer service where every interaction is intuitive, effortless, seamless, and empathetic. We are seeking a customer-focused Director of Software Development to lead the vision and development of innovative self-service technologies and generative AI solutions for Amazon Customer Service. In this role, you will be responsible for driving the development of industry-leading AI powered technologies by practically inventing and applying AI through engineering to make every customer interaction intuitive, effortless, seamless, and empathetic. Your work will directly impact the overall customer experience, which is critical to Amazon's continued success. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of leading high-performing technology teams, a deep understanding of customer service best practices, and a passion for driving innovation. As a seasoned technical leader, you will have a demonstrated history building and leading organizations with a strong track record of delivering large-scale, customer-facing technologies, built on scalable architecture. You will be adept at mobilizing multi-team, multi-disciplinary organizations while staying connected with the customers and dive deep on customer experience, architecture, and technical details. You will work across organizations and disciplines (e.g. Product, Program, Science, Design and Engineering) to identify capabilities, influence design, architecture and development of shared services and orchestrate solutions. You will influence the three-year architectural plan for the technology as well as drive tradeoff decisions balancing long term vision with delivering immediate impact to our customers. Key job responsibilities

• Lead a team of software developers & software development managers to identify, evaluate, and implement self-service and generative AI technologies.
• Collaborate closely with customer service leadership to deeply understand pain points, unmet needs, and opportunities to enhance the customer experience through automation and intelligent assistants
• Research the latest advancements in areas like natural language processing and conversational AI to identify applicable solutions
• Oversee the development of conversational AI agents, and other self-service tools that allow customers to quickly find answers and resolve issues on their own
• Leverage generative AI capabilities to create personalized content, respond to customer inquiries, and streamline customer service workflows
• Establish robust testing and measurement frameworks to continuously optimize the performance and user experience of self-service technologies
• Partner with IT, security, and compliance teams to ensure all customer-facing systems meet enterprise standards for privacy, data protection, and reliability
• Serve as a technical leader and subject matter expert, educating senior stakeholders on emerging trends and the strategic value of the work
• Hire, develop, and lead a high-performing team of software managers and engineers

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Computer science or related field.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience.
• 8+ years of demonstrated experience managing engineering managers.
• Understanding of software engineering practices & best practices for the full software development life cycle including coding standards, build processes, testing, and operations.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated experience leading development teams, with a focus on customer service or user-facing technologies
• Extensive background in AI, machine learning, natural language processing, and related disciplines
• Proven track record of taking emerging technologies from research to production-ready solutions
• Experience deploying and optimizing self-service portals, knowledge bases, chatbots, and other AI-powered customer service tools
• Familiarity with generative AI models and applications in customer interactions, and process automation
• Strong business acumen and ability to align technology strategy with organizational goals and customer needs
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status. Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company's reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. 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. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $264,100/year in our lowest geographic market up to $350,000/year in our highest geographic market. Pay is based on a number of factors including market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Amazon is a total compensation company. Dependent on the position offered, equity, sign-on payments, and other forms of compensation may be provided as part of a total compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. For more information, please visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/workplace/employee-benefits. This position will remain posted until filled. Applicants should apply via our internal or external career site. Apply Job!