Sr. Software Dev Engineer, AWS EKS

Amazon is hiring a Sr. Software Dev Engineer, AWS EKS 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

On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The posting mentions Kubernetes, Ebpf and Istio among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Amazon has 21,000+ other open roles on Level.
Posted in the last few days.

AI in this role

Senior Software Development Engineer for AWS EKS networking team building sidecarless service mesh data paths.

kubernetesebpfistio

software-developmentnetworkingdistributed-systemskernelencryption

Amazon Web Services is looking for a Sr. Software Development Engineer to join our growing Amazon Elastic Container Services for Kubernetes (EKS) team. Amazon EKS is our managed Kubernetes service that makes it easy for customers to use Kubernetes without needing to become experts in provisioning and operating Kubernetes. EKS manages time-consuming administrative tasks like setting up, operating, scaling and updating Kubernetes, freeing customers up to focus on their applications.

The EKS Networking team builds the networking stack that connects customer workloads running on EKS clusters. We own the VPC CNI, which runs in the majority of EKS clusters worldwide, and an eBPF-based network policy enforcement path that replaced third-party dependencies with a native implementation. We are now building a service mesh, an Istio or Istio-like capability (traffic management, mTLS, policy, and observability) that avoids the per-pod sidecar tax by leaning on the kernel and the networking stack we already own. You will be joining a fast paced team working on greenfield projects, building the data path for that mesh.

You will own how traffic is intercepted, encrypted, and forwarded between services, deciding where Layer 4 and mTLS live (a per-node proxy and the kernel) versus where Layer 7 processing happens, and owning the performance budget that justifies a sidecarless design. You will be solving challenging technical problems, often ones not solved before, alongside peers with remarkable technical expertise. The solutions you build will be high impact and rolled out to our large customer base across the world. If you are excited to work in a dynamic environment, we would love to hear from you!

Mentorship & Career Growth Our team is dedicated to supporting new members. We have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures, and we're building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship. Our senior members enjoy one-on-one mentoring and thorough, but kind, code reviews. We care about your career growth and strive to assign projects based on what will help each team member develop into a better-rounded engineer and enable them to take on more complex tasks in the future.

Key job responsibilities
Key job responsibilities
- Design the mesh data path: traffic interception, encryption, and forwarding between services without a per-pod sidecar.
- Decide where Layer 4 and mTLS enforcement live (per-node proxy and the kernel) versus where Layer 7 processing happens, and own the handoff between them.
- Own the data path performance budget (latency, CPU, memory) against a per-pod sidecar baseline, with measured results.
- Partner with the control plane, kernel/eBPF, and protocols engineers whose subsystems run inside the path you design.
- Raise the bar through design reviews and code reviews, and mentor engineers building on the data path.

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.

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

Sr. Software Dev Engineer, AWS EKS 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

Sr. Software Dev Engineer, AWS EKS 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 October 29, 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

Software DevelopmentNetworkingDistributed SystemsKernelEncryptionKubernetesEbpfIstio

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where software development 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 distributed systems 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 encryption was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Software Development, Networking, Distributed Systems, Kernel, and Encryption. 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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