Software Development Engineer, Open Data Analytics - Engines

Amazon is hiring a Software Development Engineer, Open Data Analytics - Engines. It pays $193k-$262k 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.
Pay on this posting starts 16% higher than the typical software engineer posting on Level.
The posting mentions Apache Spark, Trino and Apache Iceberg 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 optimize cloud big data processing engines and datalake storage formats at AWS.

Apache SparkTrinoApache IcebergHudiDelta LakeAWS AthenaAWS EmrAmazon S3Amazon EC2

distributed-systemsquery-optimizationcompiler-designdatabase-enginesopen-source-contribution

Amazon Web Services Open Data Analytics (ODA) organization is looking for exceptional engineers to help in our mission to provide the world’s best cloud Big Data processing platform and services such as EMR and Athena.

The ODA engines team is looking for an experienced engineer to join the core engines and datalake team.

Athena and EMR are services that our customer use to run large scale analytics, leveraging open source engines like Apache Spark and Trino, with datalake open table formats like Apache Iceberg, Hudi and Delta. The analytics engines organization makes significant modifications to these engines to run in serverless environments and with superior performance and scalability than what is available in Open Source. In the last 3 years we have improved our engines by a factor of 5x by making changes to the optimizer, query runtime and storage connectors. We have also made significant changes to the compiler to enable enterprise features like fine grain access control with these engines and table formats. Additionally, we strive to regularly contribute features, bug fixes and optimizations back to open-source, as well be current with the latest open-source versions of these frameworks. This is a “must-win” strategic area in a growing and very technical space.

We are seeking a passionate and hands-on engineer to collaborate closely with open-source communities like Apache Iceberg and Apache Spark, driving innovations in query engines and table format integrations. In this role, you will focus on performance optimizations, feature enhancements, stability improvements, and security hardening, making deep contributions across the query engine and table format codebases.

As a key member of the Engines team, you will shape the technical direction, influence design decisions, implement critical features, and foster collaboration with both internal teams and the open-source community.

AWS Utility Computing (UC) provides product innovations — from foundational services such as Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), to consistently released new product innovations that continue to set AWS’s services and features apart in the industry. As a member of the UC organization, you’ll support the development and management of Compute, Database, Storage, Internet of Things (Iot), Platform, and Productivity Apps services in AWS, including support for customers who require specialized security solutions for their cloud services.

Key job responsibilities
• Develop and optimize core components of query engines and open table formats (Iceberg, Hudi, Delta) to enhance performance, scalability, and reliability.
• Design and implement innovative solutions and algorithms to improve feature capabilities, stability, and security in table format integrations with query engines.
• Collaborate with the open-source community, contributing to discussions, driving improvements, and integrating upstream changes.
• Ensure data consistency and durability while achieving breakthrough performance and scalability for large-scale data lake workloads.
• Improve the organizations automation and testing capabilities.
• Manage complex deliverables project and research projects with deadlines.
• Mentor and train other team members on design techniques and coding best practices.
• Be a point of contact for challenging customer issues related to data lake workloads and query engine.

Our engineers collaborate across diverse teams, projects, and environments to have a firsthand impact on our global customer base. You’ll bring a passion for innovation, data, search, analytics, and distributed systems. You’ll also:
Solve challenging technical problems, often ones not solved before, at every layer of the stack.
Design, implement, test, deploy and maintain innovative software solutions to transform service performance, durability, cost, and security.
Build high-quality, highly available, always-on products.
Research implementations that deliver the best possible experiences for customers.

A day in the life
A day in the life
As you design and code solutions to help our team drive efficiencies in software architecture, you’ll create metrics, implement automation and other improvements, and resolve the root cause of software defects. You’ll also:
Build high-impact solutions to deliver to our large customer base.
Participate in design discussions, code review, and communicate with internal and external stakeholders.
Work cross-functionally to help drive business decisions with your technical input.
Work in a startup-like development environment, where you’re always working on the most important stuff.

About the team
ABOUT AWS:
Diverse Experiences
Amazon 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.

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 flexible work hours and arrangements are part of our culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

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 and AmazeCon conferences, inspire us to never stop embracing our uniqueness.

Mentorship and 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.

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

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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, CA, East Palo Alto - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Redmond - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 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 $193k-$262k a year.
The role is based in US, WA, Redmond.
The job was posted on June 5, 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

Distributed SystemsQuery OptimizationCompiler DesignDatabase EnginesOpen Source ContributionApache SparkTrinoApache Iceberg

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python Java C++Kubernetes TypeScript React

Pay

This job starts at: $193k
Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting starts 16% above the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where query optimization was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where compiler design was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where database engines was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where open source contribution was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Distributed Systems, Query Optimization, Compiler Design, Database Engines, and Open Source Contribution. 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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