As part of Amazon’s Climate Pledge to reach net zero carbon by 2040, AWS is committed to reducing carbon emissions across our infrastructure, and we are seeking a Sr. Sustainability Specialist to integrate carbon impact into data center design throughout our building and infrastructure systems.
In this role you will work closely with the AWS Sustainability team and teams within Data Center Engineering to develop whole building LCA models and create plans to reduce the carbon intensity of current and next-generation AWS data center designs. You will be at the forefront of design efforts focused on decarbonizing our buildings to meet Amazon’s net zero carbon goals. This includes identify innovative solutions to that meet or exceed AWS’s technical and quality requirements and writing technical documentation for new initiatives.
In this role you will have you will have the opportunity to make significant impacts on decarbonizing the largest cloud infrastructure systems. You will analyze and identify the critical areas to deliver on our sustainability goals, develop and collaborate on new solutions, and track progress across design improvements. Amazon has a global presence, and some international travel will be necessary. You will be working on international teams and could require developing schematic and design document packages.
This role is posted in Seattle, WA., Herndon, VA., Zagreb, Croatia and Sydney, Australia.
Key job responsibilities
In this role you will be responsible for:
- Producing Lifecycle Assessments of AWS Data Center global designs to quantify environmental impacts of our data centers
- Understanding the design and functionality of AWS data center globally
- Working with Design Engineers, manufacturers, vendors, and contractors to identify designs, technologies and materials to reduce the carbon intensity in our power distribution systems
- Providing guidance to the Design Engineering teams for reducing carbon intensity in new data centers and to support Field Engineering teams in evaluating upgrades to existing data centers
- Integrating lower carbon options in building materials and systems into the AWS Basis of Design for current and next-gen data center design
- Producing clear and concise documentation such as detailed design specifications, white papers, and reports
- Working on concurrent projects in multiple geographical regions and working with stakeholders across both technical and business functions
- Being a leader within the group as well as within other teams
- Offering creative, out of the box solutions
- Having fun and working hard!
A day in the life
Each day you will interact with different teams responsible for all aspects of the data centers. Your work will span the lifecycle of our buildings and allow you to influence how we develop and implement sustainability practices in existing, new and future data centers. You will have the opportunity to work on projects locally and globally.
About the team
Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, we embrace our differences. We are committed to furthering our culture of inclusion. We have ten employee-led affinity groups, reaching 40,000 employees in over 190 chapters globally. We have innovative benefit offerings, and we host annual and ongoing learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon (gender diversity) conferences. Amazon’s culture of inclusion is reinforced within our 16 Leadership Principles, which remind team members to seek diverse perspectives, learn and be curious, and earn trust.
Work/Life Balance
Our team also puts a high value on work-life balance. Striking a healthy balance between your personal and professional life is crucial to your happiness and success here, which is why we aren’t focused on how many hours you spend at work or online. Instead, we’re happy to offer a flexible schedule so you can have a more productive and well-balanced life—both in and outside of work.
Mentorship & Career Growth
Our team is dedicated to supporting new team members. Our team has a broad mix of experience levels and Amazon tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship.BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Building Sciences, or equivalent experience
- Experience developing whole building lifecycle analysis models for the built environment
- 4+ years of professional experience in data center, mission critical, or high-performance building design
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Master’s Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Sustainability, Environmental Policy or related field
- 6+ years of professional experience directly related to data center design, construction, operations, or facility maintenance.
- Comprehensive knowledge of embodied carbon reporting and environmental impacts of building materials, such as Environmental Product Declarations
- Experience with Autodesk Revit and analyzing embodied carbon using BIM model data (e.g. OneClick LCA or similar software)
- Experience obtaining, managing, and reviewing carbon data from regional databases or sources
- Experience leading or evaluating net zero building programs, sustainable design, or high-performance building design projects
- Knowledge of building assessment programs (LEED, Living Building Challenge, BREEAM, etc.)
- Experience reviewing building design drawings and submittals for architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and related disciplines
- Knowledge of mechanical and electrical equipment and systems related to data centers, including but not limited to: chillers, pumps, cooling towers, heat exchangers, air handling units, uninterruptible power supplies, switchgear, and generators.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills (both written and verbal)
- Knowledge of basic data analytics of scripting languages (Python, R, MATLAB, or similar software)
- Meets/exceeds Amazon’s leadership principles requirements for this role