H-1B Visa Development Engineer Jobs
Development Engineer roles sit squarely within H-1B visa specialty occupation territory, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering. Employers must file an LCA with the DOL and petition USCIS before you start work, and cap-subject petitions are tied to the October 1 fiscal year start.
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The Sponsored Products and Brands team at Amazon Ads is re-imagining the advertising landscape through industry-leading generative AI technologies, revolutionizing how millions of customers discover products and engage with brands across Amazon.com and beyond. We are at the forefront of reinventing advertising experiences, bridging human creativity with artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the advertising lifecycle — from ad creation and optimization to performance analysis and customer insights. We are a passionate group of innovators dedicated to developing responsible and intelligent AI technologies that balance the needs of advertisers, enhance the shopping experience, and strengthen the marketplace. If you're energized by solving complex challenges and pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI, join us in shaping the future of advertising!
Amazon Sponsored Products and Brands is looking for a talented Sr. Software Development Engineer to join the Global Optimization engineering team at the forefront of advertising technology innovation. We are working backwards from emerging markets to reimagine Amazon's advertising stack from the ground up — building highly scalable, low-latency systems that leverage multilingual and multi-modal GenAI technologies (including semantic hash designs, LLMs, and more) to deliver solutions that scale to non-US marketplaces from day one.
This is your opportunity to be part of a small, high-impact team that architects, builds, and ships production systems powering state-of-the-art solutions that will define the future of digital advertising.
The ideal candidate combines entrepreneurial drive with deep technical expertise, thriving in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where you define the path forward with minimal structure. Our team regularly goes from ideas on the whiteboard to production-grade systems in weeks.
-
Customer Obsession - fuels your passion for building systems that deliver real-world value for millions of advertisers and customers worldwide. You think end-to-end — from the scientist's notebook to the customer's experience.
-
You are consistently Right, A Lot - when navigating complex technical decisions, demonstrating the rare ability to identify architectures and solutions that drive maximum impact with minimal complexity. You cut through ambiguity to find the approach that delivers the most results.
-
Your systems experience goes beyond textbook knowledge — you have successfully designed and operated large-scale distributed systems at Amazon scale, understanding both the promise and practical challenges of deploying ML-powered services in production (model serving, A/B experimentation infrastructure, real-time feature computation, etc.).
-
You're not just an engineer — you're a builder - who sees the bigger picture. You partner deeply with scientists and product leaders, translate ambiguous business problems into crisp technical solutions, and know how to make it all reality.
Key job responsibilities
-
Design and build at scale — Own the end-to-end architecture of distributed systems that serve millions of advertisers across global marketplaces, handling high-throughput, low-latency workloads at Amazon scale.
-
Bring GenAI to production— Partner closely with Applied Scientists to take models from prototype to production — building robust serving infrastructure, training pipelines, feature stores, and evaluation frameworks that turn research breakthroughs into real customer value.
-
Invent from the ground up — Help reimagine the advertising technology stack for international markets, designing systems that are multilingual, multi-modal, and globally scalable by default.
-
Drive operational excellence — Establish best practices for reliability, observability, and deployment, ensuring our systems maintain the highest bar for availability and performance.
-
Raise the bar — Mentor engineers across the team, lead design reviews, and shape our engineering culture as we scale.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
- 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
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.
LOCATION
USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
DESCRIPTION
The Sponsored Products and Brands team at Amazon Ads is re-imagining the advertising landscape through industry-leading generative AI technologies, revolutionizing how millions of customers discover products and engage with brands across Amazon.com and beyond. We are at the forefront of reinventing advertising experiences, bridging human creativity with artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the advertising lifecycle — from ad creation and optimization to performance analysis and customer insights. We are a passionate group of innovators dedicated to developing responsible and intelligent AI technologies that balance the needs of advertisers, enhance the shopping experience, and strengthen the marketplace. If you're energized by solving complex challenges and pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI, join us in shaping the future of advertising!
Amazon Sponsored Products and Brands is looking for a talented Sr. Software Development Engineer to join the Global Optimization engineering team at the forefront of advertising technology innovation. We are working backwards from emerging markets to reimagine Amazon's advertising stack from the ground up — building highly scalable, low-latency systems that leverage multilingual and multi-modal GenAI technologies (including semantic hash designs, LLMs, and more) to deliver solutions that scale to non-US marketplaces from day one.
This is your opportunity to be part of a small, high-impact team that architects, builds, and ships production systems powering state-of-the-art solutions that will define the future of digital advertising.
The ideal candidate combines entrepreneurial drive with deep technical expertise, thriving in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where you define the path forward with minimal structure. Our team regularly goes from ideas on the whiteboard to production-grade systems in weeks.
-
Customer Obsession - fuels your passion for building systems that deliver real-world value for millions of advertisers and customers worldwide. You think end-to-end — from the scientist's notebook to the customer's experience.
-
You are consistently Right, A Lot - when navigating complex technical decisions, demonstrating the rare ability to identify architectures and solutions that drive maximum impact with minimal complexity. You cut through ambiguity to find the approach that delivers the most results.
-
Your systems experience goes beyond textbook knowledge — you have successfully designed and operated large-scale distributed systems at Amazon scale, understanding both the promise and practical challenges of deploying ML-powered services in production (model serving, A/B experimentation infrastructure, real-time feature computation, etc.).
-
You're not just an engineer — you're a builder - who sees the bigger picture. You partner deeply with scientists and product leaders, translate ambiguous business problems into crisp technical solutions, and know how to make it all reality.
Key job responsibilities
-
Design and build at scale — Own the end-to-end architecture of distributed systems that serve millions of advertisers across global marketplaces, handling high-throughput, low-latency workloads at Amazon scale.
-
Bring GenAI to production— Partner closely with Applied Scientists to take models from prototype to production — building robust serving infrastructure, training pipelines, feature stores, and evaluation frameworks that turn research breakthroughs into real customer value.
-
Invent from the ground up — Help reimagine the advertising technology stack for international markets, designing systems that are multilingual, multi-modal, and globally scalable by default.
-
Drive operational excellence — Establish best practices for reliability, observability, and deployment, ensuring our systems maintain the highest bar for availability and performance.
-
Raise the bar — Mentor engineers across the team, lead design reviews, and shape our engineering culture as we scale.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
- 5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
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.
LOCATION
USA, NY, New York - 184,900.00 - 250,200.00 USD annually
USA, WA, SEATTLE - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
See all 1,579+ H-1B Visa Development Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Development Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as a Development Engineer
Verify your degree field aligns precisely
USCIS scrutinizes whether your degree directly relates to Development Engineer duties. A general science degree may trigger an RFE. Cross-check your transcript against the O*NET profile for this occupation before applying.
Target employers with cap-exempt status
Universities, nonprofit research institutions, and government research organizations can file H-1B petitions year-round without lottery exposure. Development Engineer roles in R&D labs at these organizations let you bypass the annual cap entirely.
Search verified LCA filings on Migrate Mate
Filter by Development Engineer job titles to see which employers have active DOL Labor Condition Applications. This surfaces companies already running the sponsorship process, not just those claiming openness to it.
Request premium processing before your OPT expires
Standard H-1B adjudication can run several months. If your OPT end date is approaching, ask your employer to file with USCIS premium processing to get a decision within 15 business days and avoid a gap in work authorization.
Confirm the prevailing wage level before offer stage
Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the Level I through Level IV wage for your specific SOC code and work location. If the offer falls below the applicable level, the employer's LCA will be rejected by DOL before it reaches USCIS.
Document project ownership for specialty occupation proof
Employers must show the role requires a specific degree, not just any bachelor's. Gather evidence of design responsibilities, engineering specifications you authored, and any cross-functional technical leadership before your petition goes to USCIS.
H-1B Visa Development Engineer: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Development Engineer role qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation?
Yes, provided the position requires at least a bachelor's degree in a directly related engineering field such as mechanical, electrical, systems, or product engineering. Roles where any degree suffices, or where extensive experience substitutes for a degree requirement in the job posting, face higher RFE risk. The O*NET profile for Development Engineers lists Job Zone 4, which supports the specialty occupation argument, but your employer's job description must specifically require the degree.
How do I find Development Engineer employers who actively sponsor H-1B visas?
Migrate Mate filters Development Engineer listings by verified DOL Labor Condition Application history, so you can see which employers have already gone through the LCA filing process rather than relying on vague sponsorship language in job postings. LCA filings are public record and reflect real sponsorship activity, not stated intentions.
Can my employer file an H-1B for a Development Engineer role outside the annual lottery?
Yes, if your employer qualifies as cap-exempt. Universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research entities can file H-1B petitions for Development Engineers at any time of year without entering the lottery. Private-sector employers are cap-subject and must register during the March window for an October 1 start date. If you're currently on OPT, cap-gap rules extend your authorization if your petition is filed and pending.
What happens to my H-1B if my employer discontinues the Development Engineer role?
You have a 60-day grace period after your last day of employment to find a new H-1B sponsor, change to another visa status, or depart the U.S. The grace period applies once per authorized validity period. A new employer must file an H-1B transfer petition with USCIS before the grace period expires for you to continue working legally. Portability rules under AC21 may also apply if your petition has been pending for 180 days or more.
Is a Development Engineer role eligible for the STEM OPT extension if I'm still on F-1?
STEM OPT eligibility depends on your degree, not your job title. If you hold a qualifying STEM degree such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science, and the role is classified under an approved STEM SOC code, your DSO can authorize the 24-month extension. Development Engineer positions frequently fall under SOC codes that qualify, but confirm the exact code with your employer before your DSO submits the I-983 training plan.