# Katherine B. > Software Engineer II @ Amazon | Backend / Full-Stack Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/katherineb Software engineer with 5+ years at Amazon building customer-facing Alexa experiences and Tier-1 backend services. I have owned features end-to-end, from design and implementation to testing, launch, and on-call, with a focus on scalable APIs, distributed workflows, and performance. Most recently, I have worked on Alexa’s entitlement platform supporting subscription access. I helped ship high-throughput APIs, built precompute pipelines to reduce request-path work, and launched a configurable rule engine to separate policy logic from service code. Previously, I built Alexa Food/Kitchen experiences across device UI (APL) and backend services, including request-routing layers and serverless workflows. Tech I work with includes Java, AWS (ECS, Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, CloudWatch), API design, microservices and distributed systems, and React/APL. I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science with a minor in Chinese from Dartmouth College. I also completed Tuck School of Business Undergraduate Training in Financial Accounting, Principles of Marketing, Business Management, and Strategy. ## Work Experience ### Software Development Engineer II @ Amazon Jan 2022 – Present | Sunnyvale, CA Alexa Product Entitlement Service (Tier-1, Alexa+ subscription) * Core engineer on a Tier-1 entitlement service supporting customer-facing Alexa subscription access. * Designed and delivered high-throughput APIs with strong backward compatibility for partner integrations. * Built a precompute pipeline to reduce request-path work and improve service performance under load. * Launched a configurable rule engine to externalize policy logic and speed up subscription changes. * Owned on-call readiness and operational excellence mechanisms (dashboards, alarms, runbooks, reviews). * Partnered with PM/TPM/QA and peer teams to launch and operate new subscription capabilities. ### Software Development Engineer @ Amazon Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | Sunnyvale, CA Alexa Food / Kitchen Experiences (Echo Show + voice) * Built end-to-end Alexa experiences across device UI (APL) and backend services (Java/AWS). * Owned a request-routing service layer to handle voice traffic and return personalized content. * Designed serverless workflows for content/data processing to improve reliability and reduce manual ops. * Mentored junior engineers and supported team execution as a Scrum lead (planning, reviews, delivery). ### Computer Science Tutor and Teaching Assistant @ Dartmouth College Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | Hanover, NH I tutor students in COSC 1. Introduction to Programming and Computation (Python), assisting them with labs, short assignments and preparing for exams. I also work as a teaching assistant for COSC 52. Full-Stack Web Development (JavaScript, HTML/CSS, React/Redux, Express/MongoDB). I attend a staff meeting each week to help plan the course, create new course content and provide input to create an interesting experience for the students. I provide office help hours 3 hours per week to assist with homework and class topics. I help with grading quizzes and homework and attend various classes to help guide students through in-class exercises and workshops. ### Software Design Engineer @ SAP Concur Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Bellevue, WA This past summer, I worked as a Software Design Engineer intern at TripIt, SAP Concur’s Travel Organization app. I developed code for TripIt’s infrastructure using Python, AWS, Docker and MySQL, focusing on increasing backend security by implementing the automation of rotating database credentials. I worked closely with, and incorporated feedback from product management, mobile and other back-end engineers using agile development. Throughout my internship I learned about using different AWS resources and how they can be integrated with backend security. My team used service-oriented architecture, so I gained experience with this style of software design and was able to investigate a service more fully throughout my project. I became skilled with all aspects of the deployment process, as well as an agile work environment. It was valuable to experience these new technologies while working with a mentor to help familiarize me with infrastructure programming. I was given independence throughout my project to determine what steps were the most necessary and worked through the process of implementing something entirely new. At the end of my internship, my code was in production and I was able to offer guidance to other full-time developers interested in incorporating my backend security code within their own services. ### Engineering Intern @ Upside Commerce, Inc. Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Seattle, WA During my 2018 Engineering Internship at Upside Commerce, I focused on further developing the core code of the myUpside mobile application using JavaScript, React and Redux. I worked closely with a team of two other engineers to modify the user interface and make the user experience more intuitive. This internship was extremely meaningful because I was able to directly apply the concepts and skills that I had learned in the Dartmouth course Full-Stack Web Development to what I was working on at Upside Commerce. Translating what I had done in the classroom to a full-scale mobile application challenged me to expand from what I had learned and made me excited to solve new problems every day. At Upside Commerce, I was also exposed to all the different facets of a startup by attending companywide meetings each week, learning about both the business and technical sides, and having the opportunity to invest in a startup company. ### Data Analyst @ Seabird Apps Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Hanover, NH Seabird Apps is a company created by two Dartmouth alumni that creates mobile applications for college campuses to provide their students access to college information. As a Data Analyst, I used Google Analytics to analyze how users interact with the app and provide feedback on how to improve the user experience. ### Retail Sales Associate @ Nordstrom Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Bellevue, WA I worked as a Retail Sales Associate at Nordstrom seasonally for two years. I embraced Nordstrom’s core value of excellent customer service and was awarded “Top Ten Highest Seller” for Nordstrom on Anniversary Sale opening day during Summer 2017. ### Application Engineering Intern @ Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Redmond, WA As an Applications Engineering Intern, I performed a variety of tests on Radiant’s core product in order to solve customer issues. My final project included testing and assessment of various filters in order to optimize the performance of the visual system. Radiant Vision Systems engineers advanced imaging systems to critically evaluate light, color, manufacturing integrity, and surface quality of illuminated displays and device assemblies. ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/katherine-bernardez --- Source: https://flows.cv/katherineb JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/katherineb/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-22