Software Development Engineer, Open Data Analytics - Engines

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

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this software engineer role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The posting mentions SQL, Apache Iceberg and Parquet among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a mid-level role.
Amazon has 20,000+ other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Design and build high-performance distributed big data query engines and scaling infrastructure for Amazon Athena.

SQLApache IcebergParquet

big-dataquery-enginesdistributed-systemssoftware-engineering

Want to change the world with Big Data and Analytics? Come join us on the Amazon Analytics team in Amazon Web Services!

Amazon Athena is an analytics service that makes it easy to get insights from Amazon S3 based data lakes using open standards like SQL, Parquet, Apache Iceberg and others. Athena is serverless, so there is no infrastructure to set up or manage as the service scales automatically based on data volume and query complexity. Creating a simple, rich and performant experience for customers requires solving challenging engineering problems.

We are working on our own scaling infrastructure (virtualization, tenant isolation, forecasting, scheduling, containers, admission control, infrastructure deployment) and making significant performance and reliability improvements to our Open Source based engine (memory management, micro-optimizations, CBO, vectorization, etc.) We’re looking for top engineers to design and build features that bridge the gap between OSS query engines and hyper-scaler performance.

We value highly technical, hands-on, data driven leaders who know multiple query engine internals and are willing to learn new areas. A successful engineer is hardwired towards engineering excellence and understands what it takes to run a production service. We look for individuals who will set aside meaningful time to develop themselves as we continually learn from customers.

You will work backwards from the customer needs and you will get to do everything from designing and building large scale systems and features for the savviest customers in the business.

By joining our team, you will get to work with a minimum of technical supervision, while playing a variety of roles as needed to respond efficiently to multiple program priorities. You will get to collaborate with some of the best and brightest minds in the industry. You'll enjoy a competitive salary, great benefits, a creative and agile work environment, and the exciting opportunity to be part of a fast-paced and growing team and one of the most innovative technology companies - but most of all, you will get the satisfaction of making products that millions use everyday to great effect!
To learn more about Athena and EMR:

* Amazon Athena: https://aws.amazon.com/athena/
* AWS Big Data Blog: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/big-data/

Key job responsibilities
- Designing and building the next-generation technologies that will make Athena SQL the best environment to run analytic SQL at any scale
- Working on complex problems in distributed systems and query engines.
- Translation of complex functional and technical requirements into detailed architecture and design.
- Deliver systems and features with top-notch quality, on time.
- Own the software development process end-to-end, including: working with engineers and product managers to develop requirements; designing, architecting, planning, implementing, and testing new systems and features; deploying, and operating the production Athena systems.

About the team
Diverse Experiences
AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

Why AWS?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

Inclusive Team Culture
Here at AWS, it’s in our nature to learn and be curious. Our employee-led affinity groups foster a culture of inclusion that empower us to be proud of our differences. Ongoing events and learning experiences, including our Conversations on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) and AmazeCon conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

Mentorship & Career Growth
We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance
We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Basic qualifications

- Experience programming with at least one software programming language
- 1+ years of contributing to new and current systems architecture and design (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) experience
- 2+ 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
- 3+ years of experience with Master's degree in Computer Science or equivalent OR 5+ years experience with Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent, in: software development, including design, implementation, debugging, and support
- Very strong Computer Science fundamentals in algorithm design, data structures, problem solving, and complexity analysis
- Strong proficiency in developing objected-oriented software, with deep experience in one or more relevant languages (Java, C, C++, C#)

Preferred qualifications

- 3+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
- * Experience in query processing, query engines, and/or query optimization.
- * Thorough understanding of parallel algorithms, concurrency, asynchronous architectures
- * Proficiency in high-performance, multi-threaded programming
- * Knowledge of and contribution to Hadoop ecosystem

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, VA, Arlington - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Software Development Engineer, Open Data Analytics - Engines 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, Open Data Analytics - Engines 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, VA, Arlington.
The job was posted on August 12, 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

Big DataQuery EnginesDistributed SystemsSoftware EngineeringSQLApache IcebergParquet

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 big data was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where query engines was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where software engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used SQL in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Big Data, Query Engines, Distributed Systems, Software Engineering, and SQL. 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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