About the Role As a Principal Physical Security Engineer, you will define business critical physical security infrastructure strategy across AWS's global data center portfolio. You will operate in significant ambiguity as a technical authority who navigates undefined problems, establishes engineering direction without precedent, and raises the bar on industry security standards rather than following them — driving competitive advantage through physical security architecture that enables secure capacity delivery at unparalleled scale and speed. You will navigate complex, multi stakeholder environments where competing priorities, regulatory requirements, and technical constraints create inherent ambiguity. You will influence global design by establishing best practices for physical security engineering across capacity delivery projects, new infrastructure products, and data center security solutions. You will shape technical direction across design delivery teams, Real Estate, DCE Product Verticals, Security Operations, SPEAR, and the Physical Security Standards (PSS). As the Subject Matter Expert (SME), you will ensure regulatory compliance and establish physical security standards for design, construction, and security systems deployment. The Principal PSE operates at a level of ambiguity, scope, and complexity that requires inventing solutions to previously unsolved problems, defining global standards that hundreds of engineers execute against, and influencing organizational strategy across multiple stakeholders and regions simultaneously. Impact is measured not in individual project delivery but in the global engineering frameworks, standards, and architectural decisions that govern how every AWS data center is secured worldwide Key job responsibilities 1. Define and own global physical security design, architectural strategies, and deployment frameworks for large scale physical security systems — including access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, perimeter protection, and layered security solutions — across AWS's worldwide data center portfolio. 2. Drive global impact through others by establishing design standards, implementation approaches, and deployment strategies that create significant speed, cost, availability, and performance improvements across leased/owned and ADC deployments. 3. Conceive, initiate, and lead projects with widespread impact on physical security infrastructure design, innovation, and implementation — resolving global architectural deficiencies and anticipating future growth requirements. 4. Navigate and resolve significantly complex or endemic physical security problems where the problem itself may not be defined before starting, delivering architectures that are exemplary in terms of robustness, stability, scalability, and cost effectiveness. 5. Influence business and technology direction across DCE, Construction, Security Operations, SPEAR, SPM, and cross disciplinary organizations including Architecture, Civil, Mechanical, ICT, Fire Protection, and Electrical teams throughout the data center lifecycle. 6. Drive consensus in design reviews and Basis of Design (BOD) development, aligning global teams toward coherent strategies, bringing clarity to complexity, and creating shared understanding between security operations teams, construction partners, and peer disciplines. 7. Set the organizational standard for physical security engineering, test, and operational excellence best practices — authoring and governing artifacts from Security Basis of Design to implementation specifications that define how global PSEs, Security Consultants, Security Operations, and Construction teams deliver. 8. Identify risks ahead of time, anticipating challenges in balancing AWS security requirements with build and deployment constraints across regulatory environments, protecting delivery schedules and preventing costly redesigns. 9. Evaluate emerging products, technologies, and security measures for applicability to AWS infrastructure, contributing expertise to partner teams and championing adoption where ROI and scalability justify it — including high security perimeters, SR/SV drawing set consolidation, and Mega Campus sized security solutions. 10. Influence global designs and organizational priorities by advising Director/VP level stakeholders and the broader Data Center community, driving business and technology direction with complete independence. 11. Play a significant role in the career development of others — actively mentoring and educating the broader physical security engineering community, guiding global PSEs, and strengthening the technical acumen and design judgment of engineers across regions. 12. Actively recruit for Amazon and participate in hiring, performing Principal Engineer promotion assessments and raising the bar on engineering talent across the organization. 13. Conduct site assessments, construction reviews, and design coordination meetings as needed. Anticipated travel ≤ 45%. About the team Why AWS? Amazon Web Services is the world's most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and have never stopped innovating — which is why organizations from the fastest growing startups to Global 500 enterprises trust our products and services to power their businesses. Diverse Experiences Amazon values diverse experiences. If you don't meet every preferred qualification listed below, we still encourage you to apply. Whether your career is just starting, followed a non traditional path, or includes alternative experiences — we want to hear from you. Work/Life Balance We value work life harmony. Success at work should never come at the expense of what matters at home. We strive for flexibility as a core part of our working culture — because when we feel supported both at work and in life, there's nothing we can't achieve. Inclusive Team Culture At AWS, curiosity is in our DNA. Our employee led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empowers us to celebrate our differences. Events like Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon 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. You'll find endless knowledge sharing, mentorship, and career advancing resources here to help you grow into a more well rounded professional.