There has never been a more exciting time to be at AWS. Our business is evolving rapidly, the regulatory landscape is shifting under our feet, and the opportunities to deliver value are endless! We are looking for a Principal, Human Resources Specialist to own and drive strategic employee initiatives for a business segment that delivers essential services to AWS national security customers. In this role, you will partner with a global network of cross-functional teams to design and deliver solutions across compensation strategy, employee engagement, workforce planning, career growth, and culture. You will analyze complex data sets and connect what the data tells you to real business priorities. This is a hands-on, high-judgment role where you will build new approaches from scratch, influence the design of long-term tooling, and collaborate with partners across Human Resources, personnel security, and legal to attract and retain a niche talent segment doing meaningful work.

Note: This position requires that the candidate selected be a US Citizen.

Key job responsibilities

• Own the vision and strategy for employee engagement, career growth, and compensation programs (including bonus design) for a growing matrixed AWS business segment, defining the approach where one may not yet exist.
• Analyze complex and sometimes incomplete workforce data to identify trends, inform business priorities, and deliver actionable recommendations to senior leadership through clear written narratives and presentations.
• Design and deliver engagement strategies that build culture across functionally isolated teams, and lead initiatives that enable leadership cohesion in a matrixed global environment.
• Partner with Human Resources Business Partners, compensation, talent acquisition, workforce planning, personnel security, and legal teams to create compliant, scalable mechanisms that attract and retain specialized talent.
• Leverage AI and available tooling to deliver results quickly while collaborating with Technical Program Management and Business Intelligence partners to shape bespoke tools for long-term support.

A day in the life
You might start your morning digging into workforce data to refine a compensation proposal, then jump into a working session with your Business Intelligence Engineer to scope requirements for a new reporting tool. After lunch, you connect with leaders across multiple regions to align on an engagement strategy for teams that operate in isolated environments. Later, you draft a narrative for a senior leadership review, translating what the numbers are telling you into a clear recommendation. In between, you are fielding questions from HR Business Partners, troubleshooting an emerging customer requirement, and sketching out a plan for a culture initiative that has never been done before.

About the team
We are not a typical Human Resources team. We provide both line support through embedded HR Business Partners and program design through embedded specialists, and we also own tooling development and bonus administration. Our customers have contractual and mission-oriented needs that require us to build original solutions rather than pull from existing playbooks. We partner with compensation, talent acquisition, workforce planning, personnel security, and legal — and we are growing. This role gives you exposure across the full AWS ecosystem, a chance to work with a team that takes real accountability for its work, and the opportunity to shape how we support a critical and expanding customer segment.

Basic qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management
• 10+ years of HR specialist, HR generalist (e.g., HR Business Partner or HR Partner), HR manager, or HR program experience
• Experience creating and implementing large-scale organizational programs
• Experience analyzing HR data and translating metrics into actionable workforce strategies
• Experience working effectively across cross-functional teams and partnering well with people at all levels within an organization
• Experience ability to understand and devise new models that work

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree or above in human resources
• Experience in security or compliance consulting or advisory work in support of a highly technical environment
• Experience working with customers, technical teams, and management to collect requirements, describe software product features, and technical designs
• Experience delivering programs for large, cross-functional, global teams, using data and metrics to provide insights and drive improvements
• Experience in written and verbal communication skills to communicate with technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
• Experience managing competing priorities across a wide range of stakeholders
• Experience with AI-driven tools or advanced analytics platforms to accelerate HR insights and program delivery

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, VA, Herndon - 149,800.00 - 202,600.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 149,800.00 - 202,600.00 USD annually