Software Development Engineer II, AWS EKS

About the role

We are looking for a Software Development Engineer II (SDE-2) to join the EKS Node Runtime team. In this role, you will design, build, and operate systems that power the compute layer for Amazon EKS, working on critical infrastructure that enables customers to run containerized workloads reliably and securely at scale.

Responsibilities

• Design & Build:
  • Architect and implement the node-level runtime infrastructure that powers EKS compute.
  • Design optimized Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), integrate GPU drivers and accelerator support, implement VM isolation runtimes, and build node monitoring systems that operate reliably across millions of customer nodes.
• Operate at Scale:
  • Own the operational health of the EKS node runtime layer handling millions of customer workloads across diverse instance types and accelerators.
  • Participate in on-call rotations, respond to SEVs, resolve customer escalations, and drive operational improvements that reduce MTTR and improve fleet stability.
• Technical Leadership:
  • Lead the design and implementation of complex node runtime features end-to-end, from requirements through AMI build pipelines, testing frameworks, deployment, and production validation.
  • Drive technical decisions on AMI architecture, container runtime strategies, and GPU/accelerator integration.
• Kubernetes & Runtime Expertise:
  • Work deeply with node-level Kubernetes components including kubelet configuration, device plugins, Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) drivers, and container runtimes (containerd, runc).
  • Understand Linux internals, systemd, GPU drivers, and isolation technologies to build robust node capabilities.
• Cross-Team Collaboration:
  • Partner with EKS control plane teams, EC2 instance teams, NVIDIA, AWS AI/ML services (SageMaker, Trainium, Inferentia), and open-source communities to deliver integrated solutions that enable customer workloads from traditional containers to cutting edge AI training and inference.
• Mentorship:
  • Mentor junior engineers on systems programming, Linux internals, and operational best practices.
  • Conduct thorough code reviews, share knowledge on GPU technologies and container runtimes, and contribute to a culture of engineering excellence.
• Operational Excellence:
  • Drive improvements in AMI build and release pipelines, automated CVE patching, instance qualification testing, monitoring and alarming for node health, and incident response processes.
  • Build automation that reduces manual toil and accelerates time-to-resolution.
• Innovation:
  • Identify opportunities to enable new GPU and accelerator technologies, optimize node startup performance, improve container isolation and security, and push the boundaries of what's possible with AI/ML workloads on Kubernetes.
  • Simplify customer experiences through better defaults, comprehensive monitoring, and self-healing capabilities.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
• 2+ years of non-internship design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field
• Experience programming with at least one modern language such as Python, Ruby, Golang, Java, C++, C#, Rust

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Kubernetes, Docker or containers ecosystem, or experience that includes strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and effective communication abilities and experience in managing and troubleshooting network
• Knowledge of and experience with cloud infrastructure technologies
• Experience in Linux/RHEL, or experience in Kubernetes, Docker or containers ecosystem and experience with programming/scripting (Batch, VB, PowerShell, Java, C#, Chef, Perl, Ruby and/or PHP)
• Experience with CloudFormation, Chef, Puppet, Salt, or Ansible in production environments
• Experience delivering products against plan in a fast-paced, multi-disciplined, distributed-responsibility and often ambiguous environment
• Experience with enterprise architecture including virtualization technologies and distributed architecture
• Contributions to open-source projects, especially in the Kubernetes/CNCF ecosystem
• Strong operational mindset - experience with monitoring, observability, and incident management at scale

Pay

$143,700.00 - $194,400.00 USD annually

Schedule

Full-time