Sr Software Dev Engineer, S3 Request Processing, S3 - Simple Storage Service
Amazon S3 handles hundreds of millions of requests per second for customers around the world, and every one of those requests runs on software that will be shaped by your technical decisions. As a Senior Software Development Engineer on the S3 Foundations team, you will set the technical direction for the systems that validate, release, and observe new S3 software across every AWS Region on the planet, at a scale almost no other engineering role can offer.
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) provides industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance for object storage. Customers of all sizes, from day-one startups to the world's largest enterprises, use Amazon S3 to deliver next-generation applications ranging from data analytics to AI to photo and video archives. While S3 has seen tremendous growth since launch in 2006, we are still in the early stages of realizing its full potential.
The S3 Foundations team is the foundation and force multiplier for S3's front-end engineering organization. We own the platform that safely delivers software to the fleet processing every S3 API request worldwide, from pre-production validation and qualification systems that catch problems before customers ever see them, to the post-processing services — metering, API events, and request logging — that power billing, auditing, and analytics for millions of AWS customers. When our team does its job well, customers get new S3 capabilities sooner, and hundreds of S3 engineers ship faster and more safely.
This is a senior, hands-on technical leadership role at the intersection of massive-scale distributed systems, developer experience, and operational excellence. You will:
- Own the architecture of the deployment, validation, and observability systems that every S3 front-end change flows through on its way to production — and be accountable for designs delivered through multiple engineers, not just your own code.
- Set the technical strategy for an ambitious modernization agenda — increasing release frequency, compressing worldwide deployment times, hardening automated deployment safety, and decomposing legacy services into modern, independently deployable systems. The business problems are defined; the technical path is yours to chart.
- Define and drive the self-service "builder experience" platform that lets S3 engineers validate, deploy, and observe their changes without waiting on anyone — making architectural trade-offs whose impact is measured in how much faster and safer hundreds of engineers ship.
- Lead how the team adopts AI as a core part of building and operating software: establishing patterns for AI-assisted development, driving spec-driven modernization of legacy services, and designing automated on-call assistants and agents that handle routine requests.
You'll be a force multiplier on a tight-knit team — leading design reviews, mentoring engineers, and partnering with Principal Engineers and senior leaders across S3 to align technical direction. Because our platform is on the path of every S3 request worldwide, a passion and discipline around operational excellence, security, and availability is essential. Come build with us and make history with Amazon S3!
Key job responsibilities
- Set the technical direction for, and design, build, and operate, distributed systems that deploy software to one of the largest server fleets in the world — identifying one-way door decisions and mitigating long-term architectural risk.
- Lead the modernization of legacy services at massive scale, owning designs end-to-end and delivering them through a team of engineers, with outsized impact on AWS's cost, performance, and operations.
- Architect validation, deployment, and observability platforms that make engineers across S3's front-end organization measurably faster and safer.
- Raise the engineering bar as a force multiplier: lead design reviews, drive adoption of engineering and operational best practices, and actively mentor and develop engineers on the team.
- Influence technical strategy across multiple S3 teams, partnering with senior engineers, Principal Engineers, and leaders to coordinate feature validation and delivery for S3's front-end organization.
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.
USA, VA, Arlington - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) provides industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance for object storage. Customers of all sizes, from day-one startups to the world's largest enterprises, use Amazon S3 to deliver next-generation applications ranging from data analytics to AI to photo and video archives. While S3 has seen tremendous growth since launch in 2006, we are still in the early stages of realizing its full potential.
The S3 Foundations team is the foundation and force multiplier for S3's front-end engineering organization. We own the platform that safely delivers software to the fleet processing every S3 API request worldwide, from pre-production validation and qualification systems that catch problems before customers ever see them, to the post-processing services — metering, API events, and request logging — that power billing, auditing, and analytics for millions of AWS customers. When our team does its job well, customers get new S3 capabilities sooner, and hundreds of S3 engineers ship faster and more safely.
This is a senior, hands-on technical leadership role at the intersection of massive-scale distributed systems, developer experience, and operational excellence. You will:
- Own the architecture of the deployment, validation, and observability systems that every S3 front-end change flows through on its way to production — and be accountable for designs delivered through multiple engineers, not just your own code.
- Set the technical strategy for an ambitious modernization agenda — increasing release frequency, compressing worldwide deployment times, hardening automated deployment safety, and decomposing legacy services into modern, independently deployable systems. The business problems are defined; the technical path is yours to chart.
- Define and drive the self-service "builder experience" platform that lets S3 engineers validate, deploy, and observe their changes without waiting on anyone — making architectural trade-offs whose impact is measured in how much faster and safer hundreds of engineers ship.
- Lead how the team adopts AI as a core part of building and operating software: establishing patterns for AI-assisted development, driving spec-driven modernization of legacy services, and designing automated on-call assistants and agents that handle routine requests.
You'll be a force multiplier on a tight-knit team — leading design reviews, mentoring engineers, and partnering with Principal Engineers and senior leaders across S3 to align technical direction. Because our platform is on the path of every S3 request worldwide, a passion and discipline around operational excellence, security, and availability is essential. Come build with us and make history with Amazon S3!
Key job responsibilities
- Set the technical direction for, and design, build, and operate, distributed systems that deploy software to one of the largest server fleets in the world — identifying one-way door decisions and mitigating long-term architectural risk.
- Lead the modernization of legacy services at massive scale, owning designs end-to-end and delivering them through a team of engineers, with outsized impact on AWS's cost, performance, and operations.
- Architect validation, deployment, and observability platforms that make engineers across S3's front-end organization measurably faster and safer.
- Raise the engineering bar as a force multiplier: lead design reviews, drive adoption of engineering and operational best practices, and actively mentor and develop engineers on the team.
- Influence technical strategy across multiple S3 teams, partnering with senior engineers, Principal Engineers, and leaders to coordinate feature validation and delivery for S3's front-end organization.
Basic Qualifications
- 5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
- 5+ 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
- 5+ 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
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, Arlington - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually