Penetration Tester, AWS Security

Do you enjoy finding security issues? Do you enjoy protecting customers at scale? On the AWS Penetration Testing team, you will help deliver continuous, signal driven adversarial testing of AWS production services. You will work on scoped security problems, learn to build on the output of GenAI security tools and take it where those tools cannot reach, and grow your ability to find issues that automation misses.

Our team runs a model of security testing that never stops. Automation and GenAI tools establish a baseline, and we extend past it by turning raw findings into demonstrated exploits and abuse cases that need human judgment and service context. As a Security Engineer I, you will take on defined testing work within the team, apply established methodologies and runbooks, and consult senior engineers as you build judgment around ambiguity. You will learn from early mistakes and rarely repeat them.

We are looking for a Security Engineer to assess our services against a high security bar. You will work closely with teammates who guide your growth. Over time you will expand the range of services you can test on your own.

Key job responsibilities
- Perform adversarial testing of AWS production services on scoped work, using established team methodologies and guidance from senior engineers
- Build on the findings of GenAI security tools and automation, combining candidate weaknesses into demonstrated exploits rather than forwarding raw alerts as conclusions
- Manually audit the source code of web services and software authored in house by Amazon, focusing on defined components and known risk areas that tools cover poorly
- Follow a suspected flaw where it leads within your scope, and escalate to senior engineers when it reaches across a service boundary
- Write proof of concept code that demonstrates provable, reproducible impact for the issues you identify
- Explain each finding in written and verbal form, covering what is wrong, why it matters, and what to do about it, and help validate that fixes work
- Own the tickets you cut and drive them toward a validated fix, treating "resolved" as unproven until you confirm it
- Feed the limitations you find back to GenAI tool owners so the tooling improves and the human only frontier narrows
- Contribute to the team's runbooks, tools, and automation, and help automate any manual technique the team performs more than twice
- Act on the signals that set the team's targets, including change signals, tool output, bug bounty reports, and threat models, and apply judgment about when to work independently and when to seek guidance

About the team
Diverse Experiences
Amazon Security values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the 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 Amazon Security?
At Amazon, security is central to maintaining customer trust and delivering delightful customer experiences. Our organization is responsible for creating and maintaining a high bar for security across all of Amazon’s products and services. We offer talented security professionals the chance to accelerate their careers with opportunities to build experience in a wide variety of areas including cloud, devices, retail, entertainment, healthcare, operations, and physical stores.

Inclusive Team Culture
In Amazon Security, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Ongoing DEI events and learning experiences inspire us to continue learning and to embrace our uniqueness. Addressing the toughest security challenges requires that we seek out and celebrate a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and voices.

Training & 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, training, 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 flexible work hours and arrangements are part of our culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

Basic Qualifications

- Knowledge of one or more scripting languages (e.g., Python, Ruby, Perl)
- Knowledge of security fundamentals such as common vulnerability classes, threat modeling, and secure coding, gained through self teaching, a skills program, formal education, or equivalent experience
- Ability to communicate security risk for low complexity problems in written and verbal form

Preferred Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
- Hands on experience with penetration testing, CTFs, bug bounties, or security research
- Exposure to cloud environments (AWS or similar) and web application security
- Experience writing automation or tooling to reduce manual effort

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.

USA, TX, Virtual Location - Texas - 136,000.00 - 184,000.00 USD annually