Software Development Engineer, AWS CloudWatch OpenTelemetry

AWS CloudWatch OpenTelemetry is hiring! Come build the next generation of cloud observability with us. Amazon CloudWatch gives every AWS customer a single platform to send, store, and query metrics from over 70 AWS services alongside their own application telemetry, using the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) and Prometheus Query Language (PromQL). Our Seattle team owns the query execution and long-term metrics storage systems that make this possible: the distributed query engine that evaluates PromQL expressions in real time, the storage access layer that serves reads across storage tiers, and the durable pipeline that compacts and indexes billions metric data points per day and keeps them queryable for up to 15 months. We serve customers who depend on CloudWatch to monitor production systems using Grafana, Prometheus, and other Prometheus-compatible tools. The Seattle team is small, early, and still making the foundational architecture decisions that will shape this service for years. Engineers who join now will have a visible and lasting influence on what it becomes. Engineers who thrive here pair strong distributed systems instincts with the discipline to build for correctness and availability at AWS scale. Key job responsibilities - Design, implement, and test new features across our distributed query and long-term metrics storage systems using Rust and Java, leveraging AWS services including S3, Kinesis, DynamoDB, and ECS. - Operate and maintain a globally available 24x7 service that customers rely on to monitor, alert, and analyze their metrics in real time, identifying root causes of operational issues and applying permanent fixes. - Collaborate with customers, stakeholders, and peers to understand requirements, influence our roadmap, and shape how millions of developers and SREs monitor their systems. - Contribute to the full software development lifecycle — from design and code reviews to testing, deployment, and documentation — while mentoring teammates through constructive feedback. - Evaluate new tools and approaches to keep our systems and practices current, making recommendations to the team on adoption and integration. A day in the life On a typical day you might root-cause a customer query issue, release a new feature, consult with principal engineers on a hard architectural tradeoff, or design a solution to a storage or performance challenge you have never seen before. You translate customer requirements into designs, evaluate tradeoffs, and break work into incremental deliverables your team can ship. A strong community of principal and senior engineers gives direct feedback and pushes your thinking. You are surrounded by people who are passionate about observability and who believe there is still a lot of ground to cover in helping developers, SREs, and operators understand their systems. About the team The AWS CloudWatch OpenTelemetry team builds the query execution and long-term metrics storage systems behind Amazon CloudWatch. We are a small, early-stage team in Seattle making foundational architecture decisions that will shape this service for years. Our mission is to give every AWS customer a reliable, performant way to store, query, and act on their metrics using open standards like OTLP and PromQL. We invest in growing our engineers from day one — you will be paired with a buddy, work closely with senior and principal engineers, and build a personalized development plan with your manager. Our culture values knowledge sharing, constructive feedback, and an inclusive environment where every voice is heard. - 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 - Experience programming with at least one software programming language - Experience with server, storage, networking, or large-scale distributed systems - Experience leading the design, build and deployment of complex and performant (reliable and scalable) software solutions in production - Familiarity with time-series data, metrics systems, or the Prometheus and OpenTelemetry ecosystems - Experience with S3-based storage, stream processing (e.g., Kinesis, Kafka), or columnar storage formats such as Parquet - Familiarity with PromQL or other query languages for time-series data - Experience with query planning, storage compaction, or performance optimization at scale Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status. 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 . USA, WA, Seattle - 143,700.00 - 194,400.00 USD annually