Amazon SA Offer (London)

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superego

New

superego
Jul 20, 2019 14 Comments

I have an offer for a Solutions Architect role at Amazon in London and wanted some feedback.

TC for year 1: £135k
Base: £97k
Sign-on: £34k
RSUs: 65 (total over 4 years)
Relocation package included

I have other offers (not FAANG).

The SA job is partly work-from-home (some days I’d be onsite at client offices).

Is the offer good? I’m a little worried about COL in London. Do I have room to negotiate it?

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TOP 14 Comments
  • How was the interview?
    Jul 20, 2019 1
    • New
      superego

      New

      superego
      OP
      Not as bad as I expected. Followed the typical Amazon format:

      - Initial phone screen with HR
      - 2 phone interviews. 1st was more of a screening (tell me about yourself, go over the position, etc). 2nd was technical
      - Final round of in-persons. I actually did all mine via video

      The technical stuff wasn’t too bad (explain SSL certs, how do you make a database highly available). I had a take home assignment (debug a CloudFormation stack and offer improvements/suggestions, document it as if it were a client). One of the in-person interviews involved going through the assignment and was more technical in nature.

      The rest of the in-person were about the LPs. Like everyone else says...prep a number of stories/examples focusing on the LPs. Go over them so you’re comfortable. Be prepared for follow-ups (would you make that same decision again...why or why not?).

      Amazon seems to have an approach of finding weak points and then focusing on them and drilling down. It didn’t come off as mean, they just don’t want to spend time going over stuff you know. I have good bit of experience with containers so one interviewer said we’ll skip that. Then he went hard on databases (where I’m less skilled).
      Jul 20, 2019
  • Amazon
    Dr 𓂸

    Go to company page Amazon

    Dr 𓂸
    Is that sign on total or for year one? If it's total, you might be miscalculating TC.

    In any event it looks like a solid L6 TC for London, considering they get less than SDE.

    Additionally, being part WFH it seems like a no brainer to me.
    Jul 21, 2019 1
    • New
      superego

      New

      superego
      OP
      That's year one sign on bonus.
      Jul 21, 2019
  • New
    bWXO75

    New

    bWXO75
    Did you negotiate further ? if yes, What wad the final negotiated TC?

    I am in similar boat with following TC offered:

    Base: £100k
    Sign-On: £43k (year 1), £32k (year 2)
    RSU: 61 (4 years vesting schedule 5,15,40,40)
    Relocation Package
    Immigration (approx £10k)
    Aug 27, 2019 2
    • New
      superego

      New

      superego
      OP
      I got about 5k more (split between signing bonus and stock).
      Aug 28, 2019
    • HSBC
      qyB78G

      Go to company page HSBC

      qyB78G
      Is this also for an L6 role of L5?
      What's the ideal L5 offer for Amazon (median and upper cap)? (TC)?
      Sep 29, 2020
  • Google / Data
    abyssesour

    Go to company page Google Data

    abyssesour
    Were you offered relocation from outside of UK?
    Aug 5, 2019 1
    • New
      superego

      New

      superego
      OP
      Yes, a lump of $13k (after taxes) or a full-service package through Graebel.
      Aug 5, 2019
  • Cisco
    GT243

    Go to company page Cisco

    GT243
    Any idea what’s the TC for L5 SA?
    Dec 2, 2020 0