Software Development Engineer, Aurora Open Source engines at Amazon
Redmond, WA
$143,700–$194,400from the description
Jul 14, 2026
Redmond, WA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A software engineering role focused on performance optimization of Amazon Aurora, the cloud-native relational database service. The work centers on improving the performance, availability, and durability of Aurora's PostgreSQL engine and storage integration — including profiling workloads, resolving software defects, building automation, and contributing to new features. Suited to engineers with experience in distributed systems and low-level or systems programming.
Mid level · 3+ years · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 8,200 people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 6,200–10,700
Applicant volume Heavy — This req sits in a large pool with little in its requirements to thin it, and auto-apply tools fire at everything in the occupation. Applying early and leading with the rare skills below is what gets read.
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 (8)
The role is located in Redmond, WA, which falls within the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue CBSA (42660).
The title carries no seniority level; the title states no level. The minimum experience gate is 3 years of professional software development, which supports a Mid-level classification despite the senior-sounding scope language in the narrative.
The language requirement lists C#, C++, Java, or Perl as interchangeable options under a 1+ year gate; C++ is listed first and is most relevant to the database/performance engineering context, with the others captured as alternatives.
PostgreSQL and AWS appear only in the role narrative and team description sections, not in the formal Basic or Preferred Qualifications blocks, so they are marked preferred.
The alt SOC 15-1243 (Database Architects) is noted because the role involves deep database engine work on Aurora/PostgreSQL; however, the primary day-to-day work is writing and shipping software (performance optimizations, new features), making 15-1252 the stronger fit.
The degree requirement states 'Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field' with no explicit 'or equivalent experience' escape clause, so it is treated as a hard requirement.
The Preferred Qualifications section mentions full SDLC experience (3+ years) but names no specific technology, so no additional skill is emitted for it.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): object-oriented design.
Read the full posting
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