AmazonSr Software Engineer, AWS Managed Backend Services
Amazon is hiring a Sr Software Engineer, AWS Managed Backend Services 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 software engineer role is Works on AI ●●●○: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- The listed pay starts close to the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include AWS, TypeScript and Rust.
- Level classifies it as a senior role.
- Level lists 20,000+ other open roles at Amazon.
AI in this role
Build fully-managed backend services and AI-native developer experiences optimized for AI coding assistants and autonomous agents.
We are building a new opinionated backend platform within AWS that unifies database, authentication and other functions into a single, cohesive developer experience. Our mission is to remove the undifferentiated heavy lifting of standing up a production backend. This is a greenfield opportunity to define how the next wave of AI-native applications are built on AWS.
Key job responsibilities
- Control Plane Architecture: Design and build the scalable, multi-tenant control plane that orchestrates provisioning, lifecycle management, and configuration of backend resources across regions.
- Database & Storage Services: Architect and implement managed relational database capabilities, including schema management, migrations, row-level security, and real-time change data capture on top ofexisting databases engines.
- Authentication & Authorization: Build production-grade identity and access management services including OAuth/OIDC flows, social login, JWT management, row-level security policies, and multi-tenant isolation.
- AI-Native Developer Experience: Define how AI coding assistants, autonomous agents, and MCP-based toolchains interact with the platform: building SDKs, CLI tools, and introspection endpoints optimized for agentic workflows.
- Technical Leadership: Lead multi-engineer projects, drive design reviews, mentor engineers, and influence the team's technical roadmap.
A day in the life
No two days look identical on our team, but here is a representative one. We are early on the design and build phase so you might one day be leading a design-review document walk-through for a proposed change where half the attendees are other senior SDEs and a principal engineer. After lunch you sit down to write the code with your agent of choice and review changes and ship it by end of day, either in TypeScript or Rust.
About the team
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.
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.
We use AI agents to build Harbor. AI coding agents are first-class members of our engineering workflow: they write first drafts of code, generate test suites, produce design-doc outlines, triage operational issues, and draft runbooks and are exploring how to leverage them more.
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
- Experience building complex software systems that have been successfully delivered to customers
Preferred qualifications
- 7+ 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 Engineer, AWS Managed Backend Services at Amazon rates 70 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● 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
Pay
- This job starts at
- $168k
- Typical software engineer job
- $167k
This posting starts close to the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- How do you decide when an AI agent can act on its own versus asking for approval first?
- Tell me about a project where backend 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 database architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where api design was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: AI agents, Backend, Distributed Systems, Database Architecture, and API Design. 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.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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