Senior Prototyping Engineer, PACE LATAM

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Prototyping Engineer, PACE LATAM

Company: Amazon

Location: Heredia, Costa Rica

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Engineering / Cloud Services / Prototyping

Date Posted: September 09, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the development and implementation of cutting-edge prototypes and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) leveraging AI/GenAI and lean principles for AWS customers across the LATAM region.

• Architect, develop, test, and deploy loosely coupled distributed software solutions, ensuring robust and scalable performance.

• Collaborate closely with AWS customers to understand their strategic vision and translate it into tangible technology and business outcomes through agile, iterative development cycles.

• Act as a technical liaison between customers and AWS service teams, influencing roadmaps and ensuring alignment with evolving customer requirements and platform capabilities.

• Contribute to the growth of the AWS Prototyping and AI Customer Engineering (PACE) capability by sharing knowledge through technical publications, blogs, and white-papers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Prototyping Engineer, PACE LATAM" title, combined with the emphasis on "AI enabled development," "agentic approaches," and "lean principles," strongly suggests a role focused on rapid application development and experimentation within the AWS ecosystem, rather than traditional IT operations or infrastructure management. The PACE acronym likely stands for Prototyping and AI Customer Engineering, highlighting a customer-facing, solution-oriented function.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, test, and implement loosely coupled distributed software solutions tailored to customer-specific innovation use cases.

• Research and integrate up-to-date technological advancements, particularly in AI/GenAI, into customer engagements and prototype development.

• Drive the adoption and evolution of the AWS platform by aligning customer requirements with AWS service teams' strategic roadmaps.

• Support AWS customers in building rapid MVP experiments to validate new product and service concepts, focusing on research, development, and innovation.

• Author and contribute to AWS customer-facing publications, including white-papers, tutorials, and blog posts, showcasing successful customer engagements and technical insights.

• Travel to customer sites within the LATAM geography, generally between 0-25% of the time, to facilitate hands-on development and strategic alignment.

• Apply lean principles and agile development methodologies to accelerate the delivery of technology and business outcomes for leading clients.

• Engage with multi-functional teams to explore agentic approaches and deliver innovative solutions through lightweight, rapid development cycles.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a hands-on engineering role focused on rapid prototyping and customer engagement within the AWS cloud environment. This involves not just development but also strategic alignment with customer needs and AWS service roadmaps. The mention of "agentic approaches" points towards modern AI development methodologies.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field is typically expected for a role of this seniority and technical depth.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in IT development, implementation, or consulting within the software or Internet industries.

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in specific technology domain areas such as software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, or data & analytics.

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in designing, implementing, or consulting on applications and infrastructures. Required Skills:

• Deep expertise in Software Development principles and best practices, with a strong understanding of distributed systems architecture.

• Proven experience in Cloud Computing, specifically with the AWS platform, including architecting, deploying, and operating solutions.

• Proficiency in Systems Engineering and Infrastructure design, implementation, and management.

• Strong understanding of Security principles and their application in cloud environments.

• Knowledge of Networking concepts and protocols relevant to cloud-based applications.

• Experience with Data & Analytics tools and methodologies for building data-driven prototypes.

• Demonstrated ability to design, implement, and consult on complex applications and infrastructures.

• Experience in Agile Development methodologies and iterative development cycles. Preferred Skills:

• Hands-on experience architecting and operating solutions built on AWS.

• Experience in AI/GenAI development, including understanding of agentic approaches and multi-functional team collaboration.

• Familiarity with Prototyping and MVP Development methodologies, including lean principles.

• Consulting experience, particularly in customer-facing technical roles.

• Experience contributing to technical publications such as white-papers and blogs.

• Strong Technical Writing skills for documentation and customer-facing content.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize extensive experience in core technology domains and a strong foundation in AWS. The "preferred" qualifications highlight a desire for candidates with direct prototyping and AI/GenAI experience, aligning with the team's focus. The "10+ years of IT development or implementation/consulting" is a significant requirement, indicating a senior-level role.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrations of architecting and implementing distributed software solutions, showcasing modularity and scalability.

• Case studies detailing the design and implementation of applications and infrastructures, highlighting problem-solving approaches.

• Examples of customer engagements where technical expertise was leveraged to drive business outcomes and innovation.

• Evidence of experience with cloud computing platforms, particularly AWS, including deployment and operational best practices.

• Projects showcasing the application of Agile Development methodologies and rapid iteration cycles. Process Documentation:

• Detailed documentation of the prototype development lifecycle, from ideation to MVP deployment.

• Workflow diagrams illustrating the application of lean principles and iterative AI/GenAI powered agile development.

• Metrics and analysis of performance improvements and business value derived from developed prototypes.

• Documentation of system integrations and distributed software solution architectures.

📝 Enhancement Note: While not explicitly requested, a portfolio demonstrating hands-on experience with distributed systems, cloud architecture (especially AWS), and agile development is crucial. Candidates should be prepared to showcase projects where they've translated customer needs into functional prototypes or MVPs, highlighting their ability to apply lean principles and AI/GenAI.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Senior Prototyping Engineer with 10+ years of experience in a high-cost-of-living region like Heredia, Costa Rica, the estimated annual salary range would be approximately $90,000 - $130,000 USD. This estimate considers the extensive experience required, the specialized nature of AWS and AI/GenAI skills, and the senior level of the role.

Benefits:

• Mentorship: Access to experienced mentors for career guidance and skill development.

• Career Growth Resources: Opportunities for professional development, training, and advancement within AWS and Amazon.

• Work-Life Harmony: A company culture that values work-life balance and flexibility.

• Affinity Groups: Participation in employee-led groups that promote inclusion and diversity.

• Inclusion Events: Opportunities to engage in events that foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

• Retirement savings plans and potential company matching.

• Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

• Potential for performance-based bonuses or stock options.

Working Hours: Standard full-time position, typically 40 hours per week. Flexibility may be available, but the nature of customer engagements and prototype development may require occasional extended hours to meet project deadlines.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimation is based on general market data for senior engineering roles in technology hubs. Specific compensation will depend on Amazon's internal banding, candidate's exact experience, and negotiation. The listed benefits are derived from the "About the team" section and general Amazon benefits.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, E-commerce, Technology Solutions. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a global leader in cloud infrastructure, providing a vast array of services that power businesses worldwide. The company operates at the forefront of technological innovation, particularly in AI and machine learning.

Company Size: Amazon is a multinational technology conglomerate with over 1.5 million employees globally, making it one of the largest employers in the world. This vast scale offers immense opportunities for career growth and exposure to diverse projects.

Founded: Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, initially as an online bookstore. It has since expanded into a broad range of products and services, including cloud computing (AWS), digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. This history of innovation and continuous expansion is core to its culture.

Team Structure:

• The Prototyping and AI Customer Engineering (PACE) team is a specialized, agile group focused on customer-facing innovation.

• It operates as a cross-functional unit, bringing together diverse technical skills to rapidly build Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and prototypes.

• The team likely reports within the broader AWS organization, potentially under Sales Engineering, Solutions Architecture, or a dedicated Customer Engineering division.

• Collaboration is key, with close interaction between engineers, customer stakeholders, and AWS service teams. Methodology:

• Data Analysis and Insights: Leveraging customer data and market trends to inform prototype development and validate business hypotheses.

• Workflow Planning and Optimization: Employing lean principles and agile methodologies to streamline development cycles and maximize efficiency.

• Automation and Efficiency Practices: Utilizing AI/GenAI and advanced development techniques to automate processes and accelerate prototype delivery.

Company Website: https://www.amazon.com/ and https://aws.amazon.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Amazon's culture is characterized by a strong emphasis on customer obsession, innovation, operational excellence, and a long-term perspective. The PACE team embodies these principles by focusing on customer needs and leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI/GenAI to deliver rapid, tangible results.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Senior Prototyping Engineer, indicating a high level of technical expertise and experience. It requires a deep understanding of software development, cloud architecture (specifically AWS), and emerging technologies like AI/GenAI. The "Senior" designation implies a leadership capability in technical execution and problem-solving, often involving mentoring junior engineers and influencing technical direction.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Prototyping Engineer will likely report to a manager or principal engineer within the PACE team or a broader AWS engineering leadership structure. They will collaborate extensively with customer representatives, AWS Solutions Architects, and potentially Product Managers from AWS service teams.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is significant, directly contributing to customer success and adoption of AWS services. By building tangible prototypes and MVPs, the engineer helps customers validate strategic visions, accelerate innovation cycles, and demonstrate the business value of cloud and AI technologies. This fosters deeper customer relationships and drives revenue growth for AWS.

Growth Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Deepen expertise in specific AWS services, AI/GenAI models, distributed systems, and agile development methodologies. Opportunities to become a subject matter expert in emerging technologies.

• Leadership Development: Transition into roles like Principal Prototyping Engineer, Solutions Architect Manager, or specialized AI/ML engineering leadership positions.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain experience working with diverse customer industries and various AWS service teams, broadening technical and business acumen.

• Technical Contribution: Opportunity to author white-papers, speak at industry events, and contribute to open-source projects, enhancing professional visibility.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role offers substantial growth potential within the highly dynamic AWS ecosystem, moving from hands-on technical execution to leadership or specialized expertise, particularly in the rapidly evolving AI/GenAI space.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is an on-site role in Heredia, Costa Rica. Amazon offices are typically modern, well-equipped facilities designed to foster collaboration and productivity.

Office Location(s): Heredia, Costa Rica. This location is part of Amazon's growing presence in Latin America, offering a dynamic work environment with potential for regional impact.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The workspace will likely support team collaboration with shared areas, meeting rooms, and open-plan seating arrangements designed to facilitate interaction with colleagues on the PACE team and potentially other AWS professionals.

• Operations Tools and Technology: Access to robust IT infrastructure, high-performance computing resources, and the full suite of AWS development tools and services will be provided. This includes development workstations, necessary software licenses, and secure network access.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for frequent interaction with fellow engineers, project managers, and customer representatives, fostering a dynamic and responsive work culture.

Work Schedule: The standard work schedule is likely 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. However, given the customer-facing and project-driven nature of the role, there may be a need for flexibility to accommodate customer needs, critical deadlines, and international collaboration across different time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in Heredia suggests a focus on in-person collaboration and immersion within Amazon's operational infrastructure in Costa Rica, while still requiring flexibility for global customer engagement.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and resume, focusing on alignment with the core qualifications and experience.

• Technical Phone Screen: An interview with an engineer or manager to assess your foundational knowledge in software development, cloud computing (AWS), and distributed systems.

Expect questions on architecture, problem-solving, and your experience with relevant technologies.

• On-site (or Virtual On-site) Loop: This typically involves multiple interviews (4-6 sessions) covering:

  • Technical Deep Dive: In-depth discussions on your past projects, focusing on your role, technical challenges, and solutions. Expect system design questions, coding challenges, and discussions on AWS services.
  • Behavioral Questions: Assessing your fit with Amazon's Leadership Principles (e.g., Customer Obsession, Bias for Action, Ownership, Dive Deep). Prepare specific examples from your career.
  • Prototyping/AI/GenAI Focus: Questions specifically targeting your experience with rapid prototyping, MVP development, and AI/GenAI applications.
  • Portfolio Presentation: You may be asked to present a selection of your work, detailing a complex project, its impact, and the processes you followed.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A final discussion to assess overall fit, career aspirations, and alignment with the team's goals.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Select Projects: Choose 2-3 projects that best showcase your experience in distributed systems, AWS, AI/GenAI, and rapid prototyping. Focus on impact and complexity.

• Structure Your Case Studies: For each project, clearly articulate the problem statement, your approach/solution, the technologies used (especially AWS services), your specific contributions, the challenges faced, and the quantifiable outcomes or business value delivered.

• Highlight Process: Detail the development methodologies (Agile, Lean), design patterns, and architectural principles you applied. For AI/GenAI projects, explain the model selection, training, and deployment process.

• Quantify Results: Use metrics to demonstrate the success of your prototypes – e.g., performance improvements, cost savings, user adoption rates, or validation of business hypotheses.

• Prepare for Deep Dives: Be ready to answer detailed technical questions about your portfolio projects, including trade-offs made, alternative solutions considered, and lessons learned.

Challenge Preparation:

• System Design: Practice designing scalable, distributed systems for various use cases. Focus on trade-offs, performance, reliability, and cost.

• Coding: Brush up on data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented programming. Be prepared for live coding exercises in languages like Python or Java.

• AWS Knowledge: Review core AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, VPC, etc.) and how they integrate. Understand services relevant to AI/ML (SageMaker, Bedrock, etc.).

• Behavioral Examples: Prepare STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) responses for common Amazon Leadership Principles.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process at Amazon is rigorous and typically involves multiple stages focusing on technical depth, problem-solving, and alignment with company values. A strong, well-documented portfolio is essential for demonstrating practical experience in prototyping and AWS.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• AWS Services: Extensive use of core AWS services such as EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, VPC, CloudFormation, CloudWatch, and potentially services like EKS/ECS for containerization.

• AI/GenAI Platforms: Experience with AWS AI/ML services like Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, and potentially other third-party AI platforms or frameworks.

• Programming Languages: Proficiency in languages commonly used for backend development and scripting, such as Python, Java, Node.js, or Go.

• Containerization: Familiarity with Docker and container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes (EKS) or AWS ECS.

Analytics & Reporting:

• AWS CloudWatch: For monitoring application performance, logging, and setting up alarms.

• AWS X-Ray: For analyzing and debugging distributed applications.

• Business Intelligence Tools: Potentially using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or AWS QuickSight for visualizing prototype performance and customer impact.

CRM & Automation:

• AWS SDKs and APIs: For programmatic interaction with AWS services.

• CI/CD Tools: Experience with tools like AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, Jenkins, or GitLab CI for automated testing and deployment.

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Proficiency with AWS CloudFormation or Terraform for provisioning and managing cloud resources.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role demands a deep and practical understanding of the AWS ecosystem, with a strong emphasis on services relevant to building scalable, distributed applications and leveraging AI/GenAI capabilities. Proficiency in common programming languages and CI/CD practices is expected.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Obsession: A relentless focus on understanding and meeting customer needs, driving the development of solutions that deliver tangible value.

• Bias for Action: A proactive approach to problem-solving and innovation, prioritizing execution and rapid iteration to achieve results.

• Ownership: Taking full responsibility for projects and outcomes, from conception through implementation and delivery.

• Dive Deep: A commitment to thoroughly understanding technical details, customer requirements, and business contexts to make informed decisions.

• Invent and Simplify: Constantly seeking innovative solutions and simplifying complex problems to create efficient and effective prototypes.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Seamless collaboration with customer teams, AWS service teams, and internal engineering groups to ensure alignment and successful project delivery.

• Process Review Culture: Openness to feedback and continuous improvement of development processes, methodologies, and technical approaches.

• Knowledge Sharing: A culture that encourages sharing technical insights, best practices, and lessons learned through documentation, presentations, and team discussions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The team culture is deeply rooted in Amazon's core Leadership Principles, emphasizing a results-oriented, customer-centric, and highly collaborative environment focused on innovation and rapid execution.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Rapid Technological Evolution: Keeping pace with the extremely fast-changing landscape of cloud computing and AI/GenAI technologies, requiring continuous learning and adaptation.

• Diverse Customer Needs: Addressing a wide range of customer requirements and technical complexities across various industries within the LATAM region.

• Balancing Innovation with Scalability: Developing innovative prototypes that are also designed with future scalability and production readiness in mind.

• Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Effectively communicating and collaborating with customers and teams across different cultural backgrounds and time zones.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI/GenAI Specialization: Opportunities to become a subject matter expert in advanced AI/GenAI models, prompt engineering, and agentic AI development.

• AWS Service Mastery: Deepen expertise across the broad spectrum of AWS services, including emerging and specialized offerings.

• Technical Leadership: Develop skills in system architecture, technical strategy, and mentoring junior engineers, potentially leading to Principal Engineer or management roles.

• Industry Recognition: Opportunities to contribute to AWS publications, present at industry events, and build a professional reputation in the cloud and AI space.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents significant challenges due to the rapid pace of technological change and the complexity of customer engagements. However, these challenges are balanced by exceptional growth opportunities within Amazon's leading-edge technology environment.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Operations Strategy: "Describe a time you had to align a customer's strategic vision with available technology. How did you ensure the proposed solution met their long-term goals while being feasible to prototype rapidly?" (Prepare to discuss your process for understanding business needs and translating them into technical roadmaps.)

• Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: "Walk me through a complex prototype project you led. How did you manage communication and expectations with different stakeholders, including technical teams and business leaders?" (Prepare a STAR method example focusing on communication, conflict resolution, and managing diverse perspectives.)

• Problem-Solving: "Imagine a customer wants to build an AI-powered customer service chatbot, but they have limited data. How would you approach building a functional prototype using AWS services and potentially limited data?" (Prepare to outline your thought process, potential AWS services, data augmentation strategies, and MVP definition.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• Company Operations Culture: "How do you think Amazon's Leadership Principles, such as 'Customer Obsession' and 'Bias for Action,' would influence your approach to prototyping and customer engagement in this role?" (Research the Leadership Principles and prepare examples of how you embody them.)

• Operations Team Dynamics: "Describe your ideal cross-functional team for a rapid prototyping project. How would you foster collaboration and ensure everyone is working towards a common goal?" (Discuss your preferred team structures, communication methods, and conflict resolution strategies.)

• Operations Impact Measurement: "How would you measure the success and impact of a prototype developed for a customer? What key metrics would you track and report?" (Focus on quantifiable business outcomes, technical performance, and customer validation.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Frame your portfolio projects as compelling narratives. Start with the customer's challenge, detail your innovative solution and technical approach, and conclude with the impact and value delivered.

• Focus on Process & Trade-offs: Be ready to explain why you made certain architectural decisions, the trade-offs you considered (e.g., cost vs. performance, speed vs. perfection), and the development methodologies you employed.

• Demonstrate AWS Expertise: Clearly articulate which AWS services you used and why they were the best fit for the problem. If you used AI/GenAI, explain the model choice and implementation.

• Quantify Impact: Use specific numbers and data points to illustrate the success and value of your prototypes.

• Engage Your Audience: Make your presentation interactive, inviting questions and discussion throughout.

📝 Enhancement Note: Amazon interviews are designed to assess not only technical skills but also cultural fit and problem-solving abilities. Preparing specific examples that align with their Leadership Principles and demonstrating a clear, data-driven approach to prototyping will be key.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Prototyping Engineer position:

• Submit your application through the official Amazon Jobs portal using the provided URL: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/10535490.

• Curate Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight your 10+ years of IT development/consulting experience, specifically emphasizing your 7+ years in technology domains like software development, cloud computing (AWS), and systems engineering. Quantify achievements and use keywords from the job description (e.g., distributed software solutions, agile development, AI/GenAI, prototyping, AWS).

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 key projects that best demonstrate your ability to architect and implement distributed software solutions, work with AWS, and apply rapid prototyping or AI/GenAI methodologies. Be ready to discuss the technical details, challenges, and business impact of each project.

• Practice Behavioral Responses: Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to address Amazon's Leadership Principles, such as Customer Obsession, Bias for Action, Ownership, and Dive Deep.

• Research AWS & AI/GenAI: Refresh your knowledge on core AWS services and familiarize yourself with the latest trends and applications in AI/GenAI, particularly those relevant to prototyping and customer solutions. Understand Amazon's approach to innovation and customer-centric development.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.