Software Developer and now Software Manager
Pros
Work with some of the smartest people and get to focus on delivering great things for customers. Rapid pace is still there but especially in AWS we are a maturing software company and take the time to do things the right way. Management supports the developers that invent, find better ways of doing something and make the team better. Good culture on most AWS teams at least from my experience. People actually embrace the leadership principles in a good way, not just becuase they are there. If you need tools or resources you will get them. Hiring always a challenge in this market, but retention has been good on the teams I work with.
Cons
Amazon expects everyone to meet a high bar, and generally management is very supportive of everyone that works hard and has skills. That said, the wrong team can be very stressful so do your homework and ask about Operational load, team turnover, 2-3 year vision for the team and culture, especially if you can ask individual team members. Not quite as many perks as some of the other top tech companies like Google and Facebook, but the overall compensation is still great.
