Senior Software Development Engineer, EC2 Instance Networking (AWS)

Amazon; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 168,000 - 227,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

RSUs

401(k) matching

Paid time off

Job summary

Amazon in Seattle, WA, seeks a Senior Software Development Engineer for EC2 Instance Networking to design and build the software‑defined networking stack used by VPCs and secure workloads at scale.

You will write low‑level systems code in C and Rust, work with custom hardware, and impact customers running workloads across AWS. The role emphasizes cross‑team collaboration, real‑time constraints, and a path from design to production.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of non‑internship professional software development experience.
• 7+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience.
• 7+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience.
• Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor junior engineers on impactful and challenging projects.
• Design and implement data plane networking software on custom hardware, working across the full software lifecycle from design through deployment and operations.
• Build and improve network virtualization systems that deliver VPC connectivity, security policy enforcement, and performance isolation for EC2 customers.
• Investigate and resolve complex production issues across distributed embedded systems, driving root‑cause analysis and permanent fixes.
• Collaborate with partner teams across hardware, control plane, and ML platforms to deliver end‑to‑end solutions.

Skills

C

Rust

Mentorship/leadership

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent

Tools

Linux

Embedded hardware

Job description

Senior Software Development Engineer, EC2 Instance Networking

Job ID: 10437946 | Amazon Development Center U.S., Inc.

Do you want to build the networking infrastructure that powers every virtual machine in the world's largest cloud? Are you excited by the challenge of writing systems software that runs on millions custom networking cards across millions of hosts?
This Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) Instance Networking team builds and operates the software‑defined networking stack at the heart of AWS. Our code is what makes Virtual Private Clouds (VPC) work, what enforces customer security policies, and what enables workloads to scale from a single instance to clusters of tens of thousands. Every packet that enters or leaves an EC2 instance flows through software we write, running on custom silicon designed in-house.
This work sits at the intersection of cloud infrastructure and the AI revolution. As machine learning workloads grow to unprecedented scale - training runs spanning thousands of accelerators, clusters demanding millions of network endpoints, and fabrics pushing hundreds of gigabits per second. We build the networking primitives that make these workloads possible: high‑performance interfaces, low‑latency data plane protocols, and scalable network virtualization that operates predictably even under heavy churn. When the world's most ambitious AI companies scale on AWS, they're relying on the software we build.
You’ll write low‑level systems code in C and Rust running on custom hardware in a real‑time embedded environment. You’ll work on network virtualization protocols, packet processing pipelines, and availability mechanisms that must perform correctly at massive scale with sub‑second latency requirements. You’ll solve problems that span hardware, firmware, and software, and see the direct impact of your work on customers running some of the largest and most demanding workloads in the cloud.

Key job responsibilities

• Lead and mentor junior engineers on impactful and challenging projects
• Design and implement data plane networking software on custom hardware, working across the full software lifecycle from design through deployment and operations
• Build and improve network virtualization systems that deliver VPC connectivity, security policy enforcement, and performance isolation for EC2 customers
• Investigate and resolve complex production issues across distributed embedded systems, driving root‑cause analysis and permanent fixes
• Collaborate with partner teams across hardware, control plane, and ML platforms to deliver end‑to‑end solutions

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of non‑internship professional software development experience
• 7+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
• 7+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent

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, WA, Seattle - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually

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