Software Development Engineer, Transactional Services (Database & Distributed Systems) at Amazon
Seattle, WA
$143,700–$194,400from the description
Jul 16, 2026
Seattle, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role sits on an AWS internal team that develops and maintains a proprietary distributed database system used by other AWS services. Day-to-day work involves designing, implementing, and operating highly available, large-scale database technology — including areas like transactions, replication, and storage — while collaborating on design reviews and working directly with internal service teams to understand and address their needs.
Mid level · 3+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Full-time
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 2,700 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 790–4,050
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
What the occupation pays Median $170,959 (middle half $135,720–$216,519). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
The role title is 'Software Development Engineer' with no level modifier, so advertised seniority is Unspecified. The minimum requirements gate on only 3 years of professional software development and 2 years of design/architecture experience, supporting a Mid-level classification despite the senior-sounding work context.
The Bachelor's degree requirement is listed as 'Bachelor's degree or equivalent,' so no formal degree is hard-required.
All distributed database skills (ACID transactions, consensus protocols, replication, storage engine architecture) appear exclusively under 'Preferred Qualifications' and are therefore not hard gates.
The skills list is intentionally sparse on named technologies: the JD names no specific programming language, database product, or toolchain — only generic categories. The two must-have skills reflect the explicit year-gated requirements ('3+ years professional software development' and '2+ years design or architecture') rather than named tools.
Compensation is quoted as an annual base salary range for Seattle, WA, with additional sign-on and RSU components noted in the posting.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): software development, system design, storage engine architecture.
Read the full posting
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