Software Development Engineer, Route 53

Amazon is hiring a Software Development Engineer, Route 53. It pays $144k-$194k 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.
Tools and skills the posting cites include AWS, Dns and distributed systems.
Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.

AI in this role

Design, build, and operate globally distributed systems and control planes for Amazon Route 53 at massive scale.

awsdns

distributed-systemsnetworkingsoftware-engineering

AWS Infrastructure Services owns the design, planning, delivery, and operation of all AWS global infrastructure. In other words, we’re the people who keep the cloud running. We support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain — and we’re looking for talented people who want to help.

You’ll join a diverse team of software, hardware, and network engineers, supply chain specialists, security experts, operations managers, and other vital roles. You’ll collaborate with people across AWS to help us deliver the highest standards for safety and security while providing seemingly infinite capacity at the lowest possible cost for our customers. And you’ll experience an inclusive culture that welcomes bold ideas and empowers you to own them to completion.

Software Developer - Amazon Web Services - Herndon, VA
Amazon Web Services (Route 53) is expanding our presence within the Herndon, VA area due to explosive growth! We are looking for a Software Development Engineer to join the Amazon Route 53 team. You will design, build, and operate globally distributed systems that enable millions of customers to securely and reliably resolve DNS queries within milliseconds—across regions, VPCs, on-premises environments, and hybrid/multi-cloud architectures.

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of networking, security, and distributed systems at massive global scale. You will get an opportunity to across the full stack—control plane, data plane, API surfaces—and integrate with core AWS infrastructure services. You will also help drive system architecture decisions, champion engineering best practices, and mentor junior engineers on the team.

At Amazon Web Services, we like to “work backwards”: start by understanding what customers need and using that to guide our software engineering. We’re looking for a software engineer who is experienced in listening to customers, synthesizing their needs, and rapidly iterating our services to quickly put features into customers’ hands. Our best ideas become even better when we get feedback from real customer use. The sooner we can get that feedback, the more quickly we can grow.

This position will be part of the Amazon Route 53 team in the Herndon, VA office. Amazon Route 53 is a highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) service offered by Amazon Web Services. We operate in over 50 locations worldwide and provide advanced functionality such as latency-based routing (LBR), Private DNS, Geo DNS routing, DNS failover, and integration with a plethora of AWS services. On top of that, we offer fast change propagation with a 100% availability SLA. Our service is quickly growing and we're expanding in multiple directions: adding new features and functionality to our DNS services, better traffic management, new AWS integrations, improving our health check capabilities, and expanding with new services in the naming and routing space.

We work on deep, technical problems that span a variety of core topics in computer science ranging from databases to networking to distributed systems to numerical analysis to security. We are looking for a developer who will lead the team and who feels strongly not only about building good software but also about running that software in the real world.

Amazon in a fast-paced environment where we “Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History.” On a typical day, software engineers might whip up a prototype to prove an idea, instrument code to report a new metric, talk with customers, code up a feature, or draft a proposal for a radical new idea.

Key job responsibilities
Design and implement highly available, low-latency distributed systems that serve DNS traffic at global scale
Build and operate secure, resilient services that protect customer workloads across hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments
Develop control plane and data plane components, APIs, and integrations with AWS networking and security services
Architect solutions that support containerized workloads, microservices, and modern cloud-native application patterns
Contribute to the security posture of the service, including DNS Firewall capabilities, encryption, access controls, and threat mitigation
Operate services in a DevOps model with a focus on automation, observability, and operational excellence
Participate in on-call rotations and drive root cause analysis for production issues
Mentor and develop junior engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and technical guidance

About the team
About AWS

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), 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.

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
- Experience programming with at least one software programming language

Preferred qualifications

- Experience developing software in multiple languages like Java, Rust, Golang etc. Prior experience with Kubernetes, Containerization and distributed systems development is highly preferred.

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, Herndon - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually

How we rate this

Software Development Engineer, Route 53 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, Route 53 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, Herndon.
The job was posted on August 28, 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

Distributed SystemsNetworkingSoftware EngineeringAWSDns

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python C++TypeScript React Docker JavaScript

Pay

This job starts at: $144k
Typical software engineer job: $168k

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 distributed systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where networking 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?
What's a project where you used AWS hands-on?
Walk me through how you've used Dns in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Distributed Systems, Networking, Software Engineering, AWS, and Dns. 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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