Software Development Engineer

Who you are

• The ideal candidate has a strong systems-software background and experience across several of the following: real-time or embedded systems, industrial automation platforms and hardware protocols, distributed systems, middleware/messaging (pub/sub, RPC), and cloud communication
• You are comfortable working close to the metal, memory, concurrency, and serialization timing and equally comfortable reasoning about how edge components integrate with cloud services
• Strong problem-solving skills, attention to correctness in the face of hardware and timing constraints, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment are essential
• Experience with Rust, C/C++, or Python, and with technologies such as Industrial automation platforms, OPC-UA, DDS/Zenoh or similar real-time middleware, is a strong advantage
• Experience in professional, non-internship software development
• Experience programming with at least one modern language such as Java, C++, or C# including object-oriented design
• Experience with full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations, or experience in development in the last 3 years
• Experience designing or architecting (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems, or experience building complex software systems that have been successfully delivered to customers
• Experience programming with at least one software programming language, or experience in professional, non-internship software development
• 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
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Computer Science
• Experience in embedded development in C/C++, or experience programming with at least one software programming language
• Experience with general troubleshooting/debugging of hardware, or experience in development in the last 3 years

What the job involves

• The Data Center Builder Tools team is looking for an innovative, self-directed Software Development Engineer to build the next generation of real-time middleware and runtime software that powers industrial control systems across AWS Data Centers worldwide
• Contribute to Amazon's vision of developing the safest, most secure, reliable, and efficient data centers on Earth
• As a Software Development Engineer II (SDE II) on this team, you will design and build the software that sits between industrial hardware and the cloud — a unified, real-time data plane that lets control applications, device drivers, and cloud services exchange data reliably on industrial computing hardware
• This is deep systems work: you will shape the runtime, the communication layer, and the protocol integrations that everything else in the platform is built on
• Design and build real-time middleware and runtime components — the data-exchange layer, type system, and communication patterns (publish/subscribe and request/reply) that connect distributed control applications across languages and hardware
• Integrate with industrial automation platforms and hardware protocols (e.g. IEC 61131-3, EtherCAT, PROFINET, Modbus, OPC-UA, IO-Link) and the device drivers that bridge them onto the platform
• Build the bridge to the cloud — reliable metric publication, command handling, and telemetry from the edge into AWS, with the right delivery guarantees for each data class
• Work at the boundary of distributed and real-time systems, where correctness means both the right result and the right timing — bounded latency, predictable behavior, and graceful degradation when connectivity is lost
• Partner with a cross-functional team of hardware engineers, controls engineers, data center operations, and security specialists to take features from design through to hardware validation
• If you're excited by low-level systems, real-time data movement, and connecting physical equipment to the cloud at scale, this is the role for you
• As an SDE II on this team, you will own the design and delivery of the runtime and middleware components at the core of the platform. This is a hands-on building role with significant technical ownership and accountability over how the system moves and models data
• Architecting and implementing runtime and real-time middleware — high-performance, low-latency components that run both on embedded/edge controllers and in the cloud, with a focus on determinism, reliability, and resource efficiency on constrained hardware
• Building industrial protocol and hardware integrations — extending the platform with new device drivers and protocol support and solving the hard problems of cross-language, cross-platform data exchange (type systems, serialization, memory layout, and schema/versioning)
• Owning the edge-to-cloud communication path — designing how telemetry, metrics, and commands flow between devices and AWS services with appropriate quality-of-service, backpressure, and store-and-forward behavior
• Engineering for real-time correctness — reasoning about latency budgets, throughput, and failure modes in a distributed system where the software is adjacent to physical control loops
• Raising the engineering bar — driving strong testing (unit, integration, and on-hardware validation), performance benchmarking, code review, and operational excellence for the components you own
• Collaborating across disciplines—working with hardware, controls, security, and operations partners to turn ambiguous requirements into robust, shippable software
• Mentoring and contributing to technical direction — guiding more junior engineers and helping shape the roadmap for the runtime and middleware layer
• AWS Infrastructure Services (AIS) 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