Senior Software Engineer, Bottlerocket

Amazon is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Bottlerocket in Seattle, United States. It pays $168k-$227k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this software engineer role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Pay on this posting starts in line with the typical software engineer posting on Level.
The posting mentions Linux, AWS and Git among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Build and evolve Bottlerocket, a purpose-built Linux operating system for running containers at scale.

linuxawsgit

systems-programmingsecurity-hardeningopen-sourcesoftware-architecture

We are looking for a Software Development Engineer to join the Bottlerocket team, where you'll build and evolve a purpose-built Linux-based operating system for running containers. Bottlerocket is fully open source and powers container workloads across Amazon EKS, Amazon ECS, and bare-metal environments at massive scale.

As an Senior SDE on this team, you will own significant components of the OS, from system services and update mechanisms to security hardening and package management. You'll design solutions that balance reliability, security, and performance for millions of container hosts, while collaborating openly with the broader community. This role combines deep systems programming with high-level architecture decisions, and your work will ship to customers as both open-source contributions and integrated AWS service features.

Key job responsibilities
- Design & build OS components — Develop and maintain core Bottlerocket subsystems (update engine, API server, host-container orchestration, settings management).
- Security-first development — Implement and maintain security features
- Open-source stewardship — Participate in upstream communities, review external contributions, publish RFCs, and maintain public documentation and tooling.
- Cross-team integration — Collaborate with internal and external partner teams to ensure Bottlerocket meets orchestrator requirements and customer needs.
- Operational excellence — Own the build and release pipeline (including Twoliter, the Bottlerocket build system), drive quality through automated testing, and support production rollouts.
- Mentorship & technical leadership — Raise the bar through design reviews, code reviews, and mentoring junior engineers on systems programming best practices.

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

- Knowledge of system performance, memory management, and parallel computing principles

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

How we rate this

Senior Software Engineer, Bottlerocket at Amazon rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Senior Software Engineer, Bottlerocket is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $168k-$227k a year.
The role is based in US, WA, Seattle.
The job was posted on August 4, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Amazon. Apply on Amazon

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Systems ProgrammingSecurity HardeningOpen SourceSoftware ArchitectureLinuxAWSGit

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python Java C++Kubernetes TypeScript React

Pay

This job starts at: $168k
Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting starts close to the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where systems programming was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where security hardening was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where open source was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where software architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used Linux in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Systems Programming, Security Hardening, Open Source, Software Architecture, and Linux. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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