Development Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Virginia
Development engineer roles in Virginia are concentrated around Northern Virginia's defense and technology corridor, with major employers like Leidos, Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, and Northrop Grumman regularly filing H-1B visa petitions for engineering talent. Aerospace, defense systems, and cloud infrastructure are the dominant industries driving sponsorship activity in the state.
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DESCRIPTION
Amazon S3 handles hundreds of millions of requests per second for customers around the world, and every one of those requests runs on software that will be shaped by your technical decisions. As a Senior Software Development Engineer on the S3 Foundations team, you will set the technical direction for the systems that validate, release, and observe new S3 software across every AWS Region on the planet, at a scale almost no other engineering role can offer.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) provides industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance for object storage. Customers of all sizes, from day-one startups to the world's largest enterprises, use Amazon S3 to deliver next-generation applications ranging from data analytics to AI to photo and video archives. While S3 has seen tremendous growth since launch in 2006, we are still in the early stages of realizing its full potential.
The S3 Foundations team is the foundation and force multiplier for S3's front-end engineering organization. We own the platform that safely delivers software to the fleet processing every S3 API request worldwide, from pre-production validation and qualification systems that catch problems before customers ever see them, to the post-processing services — metering, API events, and request logging — that power billing, auditing, and analytics for millions of AWS customers. When our team does its job well, customers get new S3 capabilities sooner, and hundreds of S3 engineers ship faster and more safely.
This is a senior, hands-on technical leadership role at the intersection of massive-scale distributed systems, developer experience, and operational excellence. You will:
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Own the architecture of the deployment, validation, and observability systems that every S3 front-end change flows through on its way to production — and be accountable for designs delivered through multiple engineers, not just your own code.
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Set the technical strategy for an ambitious modernization agenda — increasing release frequency, compressing worldwide deployment times, hardening automated deployment safety, and decomposing legacy services into modern, independently deployable systems. The business problems are defined; the technical path is yours to chart.
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Define and drive the self-service "builder experience" platform that lets S3 engineers validate, deploy, and observe their changes without waiting on anyone — making architectural trade-offs whose impact is measured in how much faster and safer hundreds of engineers ship.
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Lead how the team adopts AI as a core part of building and operating software: establishing patterns for AI-assisted development, driving spec-driven modernization of legacy services, and designing automated on-call assistants and agents that handle routine requests.
You'll be a force multiplier on a tight-knit team — leading design reviews, mentoring engineers, and partnering with Principal Engineers and senior leaders across S3 to align technical direction. Because our platform is on the path of every S3 request worldwide, a passion and discipline around operational excellence, security, and availability is essential. Come build with us and make history with Amazon S3!
Key job responsibilities
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Set the technical direction for, and design, build, and operate, distributed systems that deploy software to one of the largest server fleets in the world — identifying one-way door decisions and mitigating long-term architectural risk.
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Lead the modernization of legacy services at massive scale, owning designs end-to-end and delivering them through a team of engineers, with outsized impact on AWS's cost, performance, and operations.
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Architect validation, deployment, and observability platforms that make engineers across S3's front-end organization measurably faster and safer.
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Raise the engineering bar as a force multiplier: lead design reviews, drive adoption of engineering and operational best practices, and actively mentor and develop engineers on the team.
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Influence technical strategy across multiple S3 teams, partnering with senior engineers, Principal Engineers, and leaders to coordinate feature validation and delivery for S3's front-end organization.
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, VA, Arlington - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
Development Engineer Job Roles in Virginia
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Search Development Engineer Jobs in VirginiaDevelopment Engineer Jobs in Virginia: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for development engineers in Virginia?
Defense and government technology contractors lead sponsorship activity for development engineers in Virginia. Leidos, Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics IT have consistent H-1B filing histories for engineering roles. Amazon Web Services also sponsors development engineers through its Northern Virginia operations. Sponsorship is not guaranteed even at active sponsors, and individual hiring decisions depend on role, timing, and budget.
Which visa types are most common for development engineer roles in Virginia?
The H-1B is the most common visa category for development engineers in Virginia, as most roles require a bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant engineering discipline, satisfying the specialty occupation requirement. L-1B visas are used by multinational firms transferring engineers with specialized knowledge. Some defense contractors require security clearances, which can complicate sponsorship for candidates who need visa status established before clearance eligibility is determined.
Which cities in Virginia have the most development engineer sponsorship jobs?
Northern Virginia, particularly the Tysons Corner, Reston, and Herndon corridor, accounts for the largest share of development engineer sponsorship activity in the state. Arlington and McLean also have significant concentrations tied to defense agencies and federal contractors. Richmond has a smaller but growing technology presence, and Hampton Roads has engineering opportunities linked to naval and aerospace contractors near the coast.
How to find development engineer visa sponsorship jobs in Virginia?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically for roles where employers are actively open to visa sponsorship, making it more efficient than broad searches for development engineer positions in Virginia. You can narrow results by location to target Northern Virginia's defense and tech corridor or other cities. Checking employer H-1B filing histories alongside active listings helps identify which companies sponsor consistently rather than occasionally.
Are there state-specific considerations for development engineers seeking sponsorship in Virginia?
Virginia's high concentration of federal contractors means many development engineer roles require security clearances, and non-citizens on temporary visas may face eligibility restrictions depending on the clearance level required. The Department of Labor prevailing wage for development engineers in Northern Virginia reflects the area's high cost of living, so sponsored roles must meet that regional wage floor. Virginia Tech and George Mason University feed engineering talent pipelines that employers in the state actively recruit from.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored development engineer jobs in Virginia?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.