Principal Senior Distinguished Engineer - AWS Foundational Data & Storage Services

Description

We are hiring Principal, Senior, and Distinguished Engineers to join AWS Foundational Data & Storage Services.


AWS Foundational Data & Storage Services is redefining how the world stores, serves, and reasons over data in the age of AI. Our vision is to make every byte of enterprise data instantly durable, infinitely scalable, and intelligent by default — so that organizations of any size can turn their data into insight and action. We pair decades of hard-won operational experience with relentless curiosity to build the foundational services the rest of the cloud is built on: object storage (Amazon S3), block storage (Amazon EBS), archival storage (Amazon S3 Glacier), analytics and database engines (Amazon Redshift, EMR, SageMaker), and the ultra-high-performance caching layers that make generative AI and analytics fast and trustworthy at enterprise scale. We're hiring Principal and Senior Principal Engineers across the org to own technical direction for some of our hardest problems: building a new cache product purpose-built for GenAI and analytics — delivering ultra-low-latency, ultra-high-throughput access to S3 data at exponential scale; setting architecture for S3 storage at the exabyte tier; and driving the engineering direction of SageMaker, Redshift, EMR, and AWS Database Services. These are deep, high-ownership systems roles — some remote-eligible, others anchored to hubs like Seattle, Irvine, and Berlin — for engineers who have led org-wide technical strategy and want to see it run in production. If you want to build systems that operate at planet scale — where durability, availability, latency, and failure-mode ownership are first-class concerns measured in eleven nines — this is the team.

What You'll Do

This is a rare chance to own and ship the foundational services the rest of the cloud is built on — not features on top of a platform, but the storage, data, and caching layers that everything else depends on, operating at a scale no one else in the industry touches. You'll architect systems that store and serve exabytes of the world's most critical data, where a single design decision ripples across hundreds of millions of customers and millions of applications.

The problems here are unlike anywhere else. How do you deliver eleven nines of durability while adding net-new capabilities to a service that already stores hundreds of trillions of objects? How do you build a new cache product that serves S3 data at ultra-low latency and ultra-high throughput for GenAI and analytics workloads growing exponentially? How do you evolve block, object, and archival storage — and the analytics and database engines on top of them — without ever compromising the durability, availability, and latency guarantees customers have bet their businesses on? These are deep systems challenges solved in production, at a scale where the usual playbooks break down. You help write the new ones.

The systems you build here don't sit in a backlog — they're load-bearing for the internet: S3, EBS, and Glacier storing the data behind modern AI and analytics; Redshift, EMR, and SageMaker turning that data into insight; and the next generation of high-performance caching making all of it fast. You'll have direct influence over technical choices, minimal layers between you and decisions, and the opportunity to define what foundational data infrastructure looks like in the AI era.

Key job responsibilities
Deliver strategic technical projects and design new storage, data, and caching systems at massive scale

Lead architecture and engineering strategy for foundational services across S3, EBS, Glacier, and the analytics and database layer (Redshift, EMR, SageMaker, AWS Database Services)

Mentor and guide engineers while solving the hardest durability, availability, and latency problems hands-on

Work cross-functionally with Principal Engineers and teams across AWS Foundational Data & Storage Services

Scout and recruit top technical talent, actively growing the engineering community

Drive a strong engineering excellence and operational culture across all services and teams

Shape technical direction for systems where correctness, durability, and failure-mode ownership are first-class, measured in eleven nines

Balance deep systems expertise with strong analytical skills to make informed architectural decisions at scale

Basic Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

10+ years of design, development engineering experience.

Experience collaborating across multiple organizations and influencing key outcomes.

Experience as a technical leader of multiple concurrent projects, driving strategic technical decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with large-scale distributed systems, storage or database internals, high-throughput data systems, and performance-critical caching

Experience with big data and analytics engines, containerized microservices, serverless functions, and event-driven architecture

Hands-on experience designing for extreme durability, availability, and latency guarantees in production systems serving at planet scale

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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.