Software Development Engineer, Bottlerocket

Amazon is hiring a Software Development Engineer, Bottlerocket in Seattle, United States. It pays $144k-$194k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Amazon.

Level's read on this job

Little AI ●○○○ is how Level rates this software engineer role: aI is not part of the work.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Rust, Go and GitHub.
Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

Design, build, and maintain components of Bottlerocket, AWS's open-source Linux container operating system.

RustGoGitHubLinuxKubernetesDocker

systems-programmingsecurity-hardeningci-cdkernelcontainer-runtimes

As a Software Development Engineer on the Bottlerocket team, you will design, build, and maintain components of Bottlerocket — AWS's open-source, security-first container OS trusted by thousands of customers to run production workloads at massive scale.

As an SDE2, you'll write Rust and Go in the open on GitHub, shipping systems software that runs on millions of hosts worldwide — spanning OS services, container runtime integrations, update mechanisms, and orchestrator support for EKS and ECS. You'll solve hard problems in Linux internals, security hardening, and performance at unprecedented container density, while building the CI/CD and release tooling that powers safe, rapid OS delivery.

This is a uniquely open team within AWS: real open-source, real community, and real low-level engineering on infrastructure customers trust to run their most important workloads.

Key job responsibilities
- Design, implement, and maintain Rust-based OS components including system services, API servers, and update infrastructure for Bottlerocket
- Own features end-to-end from design through production, operating with high autonomy and delivering results on ambiguous problems
- Contribute to and maintain open-source code on GitHub, participating in public code reviews and community engagement
- Investigate and resolve complex systems issues spanning kernel, userspace, container runtimes, and orchestrator integrations (EKS, ECS)
- Build and improve CI/CD pipelines, release tooling, and automated testing frameworks that ensure safe, rapid OS delivery
- Harden security defaults and implement OS-level protections that reduce customer operational burden without sacrificing flexibility
- Partner cross-functionally with EKS, ECS, and security teams to design integrations and align on container host requirements
- Mentor engineers through code reviews, design feedback, and technical guidance, raising the quality bar across the team
- Participate in on-call rotations and operational excellence practices supporting production container infrastructure at scale
- Write technical design documents, contribute to roadmap planning, and communicate trade-offs clearly to stakeholders

Basic qualifications

- 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
- 1+ years of software development engineer or related occupational experience
- 1+ years of designing and developing large-scale, multi-tiered, multi-threaded, embedded or distributed software applications, tools, systems, and services using: C#, C++, Java, or Perl experience
- 1+ years of Object Oriented Design experience
- Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
- Experience programming with at least one software programming language

Preferred qualifications

- 3+ 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 - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Software Development 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

Software Development Engineer, Bottlerocket is an open job at Amazon.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $144k-$194k a year.
The role is based in US, WA, Seattle.
The job was posted on August 4, 2026.
Seniority: mid.
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 HardeningCI/CDKernelContainer RuntimesRustGoGitHub

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python Kubernetes TypeScript React Docker JavaScript

Pay

This job starts at: $144k
Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting starts 14% below 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 ci/cd was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where kernel was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where container runtimes was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Systems Programming, Security Hardening, CI/CD, Kernel, and Container Runtimes. 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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