Senior Software Development Engineer, AWS RDS SQL Server

Description

RDS provides customers with databases that have multiple-nines of durability and availability. Achieving this level of reliability requires building control and monitoring systems that automatically detect and handle many types of failures within seconds, and data replication options that accommodate various geographical distribution and disaster recovery objectives. The challenge is further heightened by needing to handle huge numbers of databases, multiple database engines (RDS supports MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MariaDB, and Amazon Aurora), and a wide variety of customer workloads.

This role is for the AWS RDS for SQL Server team. SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. Amazon RDS for SQL Server makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale SQL Server deployments in the cloud. For more information on RDS SQL Server, please visit: http://aws.amazon.com/rds/sqlserver

To achieve our goals in this area, we are looking for a Software Engineer who loves to dive in and solve fundamental Computer Science and Systems problems around performance, timing, state machine logic and distributed systems algorithms. Candidates need to have a strong sense of ownership, passion to provide a great customer experience and excellent troubleshooting skills even when in high-pressure situations. If you'd like to be a part of creating always-on databases in the AWS cloud, this is the job for you!

Utility Computing (UC)

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. Within AWS UC, Amazon Dedicated Cloud (ADC) roles engage with AWS customers who require specialized security solutions for their cloud services.



Key job responsibilities
Define strategy in ambiguity — Identify problems and opportunities where the path forward isn't clear, and design long-term solutions using sound judgment and stakeholder input

Lead end-to-end delivery — Own the full lifecycle of solutions, from scoping and design through execution, simplifying complexity for the best outcome

Drive cross-functional influence — Collaborate across teams, organizations, and geographies to align on goals and deliver results across one or more programs

Solve complex problems — Tackle challenging business and technology issues, define project requirements, and resolve escalations decisively

Communicate at all levels — Write strategic narratives and present to senior leadership; build consensus across diverse stakeholders

Balance short-term and long-term — Make trade-offs between immediate delivery needs and sustainable, scalable solutions while mitigating long-term risks

Mentor and develop talent — Coach and grow team members, raising the bar on team capability

Drive operational excellence — Champion best practices and process improvements that elevate team performance

Clear blockers and drive resolution — Navigate difficult situations, escalate appropriately, and keep programs moving forward

Deliver lasting impact — Produce work that shapes long-term team direction and goals

A day in the life
As a Senior SDE, you'll split your time between hands-on coding and leading technical direction for your team. Day-to-day, you're designing systems, reviewing architectures, unblocking engineers, and writing narratives to align stakeholders — from product managers and designers to senior leadership. You own ambiguous, cross-cutting problems end-to-end: figuring out what to build, driving consensus when people disagree, making trade-off calls, and mentoring junior devs along the way. It's part IC, part tech lead, and you're expected to find the path forward even when the problem isn't well-defined.

About the team
We're the team behind Amazon RDS for SQL Server — making it ridiculously easy for customers to run SQL Server in the cloud without wrestling with infrastructure. We tackle gnarly distributed systems challenges (automated failover, zero-downtime patching, scaling at cloud speed) for customers ranging from scrappy startups to Fortune 500 giants. The culture? Collaborative, high-ownership, and refreshingly low on bureaucracy — we ship fast, learn from our customers, and actually enjoy the work. If you like solving puzzles that millions of people quietly depend on every day, you'll fit right in.

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
AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

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 in the cloud.

Basic Qualifications

- Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
- Experience leading the architecture and design (architecture, design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and current systems
- Experience programming with at least one modern language such as Java, C++, or C# including object-oriented design
- Knowledge of professional software engineering & best practices for full software development life cycle, including coding standards, software architectures, code reviews, source control management, continuous deployments, testing, and operational excellence

Preferred Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
- Experience with full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations

Amazon is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, invent, simplify and build. Protecting your privacy and the security of your data is a longstanding top priority for Amazon. Please consult our Privacy Notice (https://www.amazon.jobs/en/privacy_page) to know more about how we collect, use and transfer the personal data of our candidates.

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.