AmazonSr. Software Development Engineer, MONA
Amazon is hiring a Sr. Software Development Engineer, MONA in Santa Clara, United States. It pays $193k-$262k 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 listed pay starts 16% above the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include Ssh, software engineering and distributed systems.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.
AI in this role
Lead software development for large-scale network automation, controllers, and data center planning systems.
We build the in-house software that solves our hardest network business problems — controllers, software-defined networking (SDN), and planning systems. For example, we own a controller for agentic network auto-remediation, and the planning software that plans every new data center down to capacity and ports. We are looking for a Senior Software Development Engineer to be a technical leader and force multiplier: you will partner with the engineering manager to shape our software strategy while continuing to design and build these systems at fleet scale. If you want the scope to influence what we build and how we build it — and to keep building it yourself — this is that role.
Key job responsibilities
- Partner with the engineering manager to shape the team's software strategy — architecture, roadmap, and long-term vision — for the in-house systems behind a 1M+ device network (everything we run, we build ourselves).
- Design and build the in-house systems that solve our business problems — controllers, software-defined networking (SDN), and planning software — end-to-end, architected to scale with robust tests and metrics.
- Own and evolve our controller for agentic network auto-remediation that detects and resolves network issues automatically.
- Build the planning software that plans every new data center — capacity, racks, and ports — and deploys new network fabric.
- Own out-of-band management-plane services: serial console access to every server and router, plus managed connectivity such as SSH.
- Drive correctness and safety for automation acting on production networks: idempotency, guardrails, and observability that proves work actually happened.
- Lead design reviews, raise the operational-excellence and code-quality bar, and mentor engineers.
- Participate in on-call and help lead high-severity incident response.
A day in the life
No two days look the same. One morning you are whiteboarding with the manager and a principal engineer on how to evolve the control plane for the next wave of AI data centers; the next you are deep in a greenfield auto-remediation service that resolves faults automatically instead of paging a human at 3am. You will make a teammate's design better, unblock a data-center build with capacity planning, and harden out-of-band console access to a million devices. You will see your work land at a scale almost nowhere else can offer — with real autonomy and teammates sharp enough to make you better.
About the team
MONA (Management, Out-of-Band Networks, and Automation) is part of AWS Core Networking. We are a highly motivated team of software, systems, and network developers who thrive on solving challenging problems and building large-scale distributed systems. AWS runs one of the largest networks in the world, and MONA alone owns the full lifecycle of over a million physical devices — driving new innovation in one of the largest data center networks on Earth. Everything we run we build in-house: controllers, software-defined networking, planning software, etc.
Basic qualifications
- 7+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
- 7+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
- 7+ 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
- Master's degree in computer science or equivalent
- 4+ years of highly scalable systems experience
- Experience leading the design, automation, deployment, and support of large-scale infrastructure
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, Santa Clara - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually
How we rate this
Sr. Software Development Engineer, MONA at Amazon rates 20 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.
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.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in software engineer jobs at this level
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 software engineering 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 networking was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where automation was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where sdn was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, Networking, Automation, and Sdn. 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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