Amazon Elasti Cache is a massive at-scale In-memory data store powering some of the top companies around the world. At Amazon Elasti Cache, we build some of the largest distributed systems in the world, and we're deeply committed to advancing open source innovation through our work with Valkey, a high-performance open source In-memory data store.
We are looking for a leader who is passionate about open source software, solving challenges in distributed systems, and building highly talented teams. In this role, you will lead a team chartered to advance Valkey open source development. You will be responsible for delivering foundational software to grow both the open source community and our business over the next decade.
You are expected to draw from deep and broad technical expertise to mentor engineers, complete hands-on technical work, and provide leadership on complex technical issues. You will manage a team of engineers and be responsible for delivering some of our most strategic technical projects, designing new software systems at the forefront of distributed database technology, and having a significant impact on both the Valkey OSS community and Elasti Cache.
As a manager of software development in Amazon Elasticache, you will be part of the larger technical leadership community that you will work closely with the Valkey OSS community, maintainers, and Technical Steering Committee (TSC), serving as a key interface between Valkey open source and Amazon Elasti Cache. This role involves influencing the long-term technical strategy for both the open source project and our service offerings, collaborating with community leaders on roadmap priorities, helping us hire a talented team of engineers passionate about open source, and ultimately enabling us to deliver innovative solutions that benefit both the Valkey community and AWS customers.

Position Responsibilities:

Build and Lead an Open Source-Focused Team:

Hire, mentor, and lead a database software development team committed to open source principles and community collaboration.

Drive Open Source Innovation:

Lead design, implementation, and deployment of successful highly distributed, large-scale services that contribute to both Valkey OSS and Amazon Elasti Cache.

Bridge Community and AWS:

Serve as the primary interface between the Valkey open source community (including maintainers and TSC) and Amazon Elasti Cache, ensuring alignment on technical direction and fostering strong relationships.
Lead Complex, High-Impact Projects:
Identify and lead work on complex, large-scale systems that have major impact on both the open source project and the company.

Collaborate Across Teams and Communities:

Serve as a lead on demanding, multi-team, cross-functional projects that span internal teams and external open source contributors.
Grow Talent:
Actively participate in hiring and growing talented engineers passionate about open source, assist in career development of others both on and outside your team.

Shape Technical Strategy:

Play a critical role in business planning and open source roadmap development, working with Valkey community leaders and internal stakeholders to develop technical goals, business targets, and resource requirements.

Contribute to Open Source Governance:

Participate in Valkey TSC discussions, contribute to project governance, and help shape the future direction of the open source project.

Demonstrate Technical Excellence:

Show high levels of creativity and sound judgment in balancing open source community needs with business objectives.
Stay Current:
Maintain deep understanding of open source trends, distributed systems technology, and in-memory database innovations.
Advance Innovation:
Contribute to both Amazon's Intellectual Property and the Valkey open source project through patents, code contributions, and external publications.

What Makes This Role Unique:

This position offers the rare opportunity to work at the intersection of planet-scale cloud services and open source community development. You'll help shape the future of Valkey while delivering world-class managed services to AWS customers, making meaningful contributions to both the open source ecosystem and Amazon's business success.
About the team

About AWS

AWS 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.
Inclusive Team Culture Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and Amaze Con conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.
Mentorship & 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.
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.

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of engineering team management experience
• 7+ years of working directly within engineering teams experience
• 3+ years of designing or architecting (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• 8+ years of leading the definition and development of multi tier web services experience
• Knowledge of engineering practices and patterns for the full software/hardware/networks development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, certification, and livesite operations
• Experience partnering with product or program management teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in communicating with users, open source community members, other technical teams, and senior leadership to collect requirements, describe software product features, technical designs, and product strategy
• Experience in recruiting, hiring, mentoring/coaching and managing teams of Software Engineers to improve their skills, and make them more effective, product software engineers, with a track record of building teams that contribute to open source projects
  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.
  Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $166,400/year in our lowest geographic market up to $287,700/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.