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Systems Development Engineer II, AWS Cross Domain Services (CDS)

Amazon

Herndon, VAJob$129–175K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today

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At a glance

Compensation
$129–175K/yr
Location
Herndon, VA
Work Authorization
US work authorization required

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Requirements

Credentials this posting asks for.

TS/SCI clearance

Job overview

The Systems Development Engineer will help operate and scale AWS Cross Domain Services, which connect regions with differing security requirements. The role focuses on improving service availability, operating and troubleshooting complex systems, and building automation for infrastructure deployment, releases, testing, and production monitoring. The selected candidate must maintain an active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph and opt into agency-specific clearances.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

LinuxNetworkingCloud ServicesSystems AdministrationStorage SystemsOperating SystemsSystems EngineeringSoftware DevelopmentSystems DesignPythonRubyGolangJavaC++C#RustAWS Cloud SolutionsDevOps

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree or CSSLP4+ Years Systems Administration Experience3+ Years Software Development Experience2+ Years Systems Design ExperienceTS/SCI Clearance With Polygraph6+ Years Systems Administration Experience

Benefits

Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Match
Paid Time Off
Parental Leave

Full job description

Description

The AWS Cross Domain Services team is seeking a Systems Development Engineer who is passionate about operational excellence. This engineer will help to operate and scale the services that connect AWS regions of differing security requirements.

An Amazon Dedicated Cloud (ADC) is a collection of AWS regions provided for a customer with specific security requirements. The AWS Cross Domain Services team provides solutions for customers to move data between regions with differing security requirements. We are obsessed with earning and maintaining customer trust. AWS is building some of the largest and most complex distributed systems in the world and the AWS Cross Domain Services team is essential to AWS’s dedicated cloud expansion. We need talented, adaptable engineers to help us implement and operate these complex systems.

As a Systems Development Engineer on the AWS Cross Domain Services team, you will:

  • Have the opportunity to leverage the latest cloud computing technologies.

  • Improve the availability of cross domain services to better serve U.S. Government agencies.

  • Use your strong background in Linux, networking, and cloud services to raise our already high operational excellence bar.

  • Operate, automate, and troubleshoot complex systems in partnership with software developer peers.

  • Be given opportunities to grow your automation skills and gain a deeper understanding of cloud computing design patterns.

You'll be part of a world-class team in a fast-paced environment that has the entrepreneurial feel of a start-up. This is an opportunity to operate and engineer systems on a massive scale and to gain top-notch experience in cloud computing. You'll be surrounded by people who are smart, passionate about cloud computing, and believe that world class service is critical to customer success. You will be able to measure your success by its visible impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of government services for our nation.

This position requires that the candidate selected must currently possess and maintain an active TS/SCI security clearance with polygraph. The position further requires the candidate to opt into a commensurate clearance for each government agency for which they perform AWS work.

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Key job responsibilities

It is “day one” for Amazon’s Dedicated Cloud offerings. We are seeking a talented and motivated Systems Development Engineer eager to: shape the development of infrastructure foundational services, write tools and services to improve automation for deployment and releases, build and maintain test fleets, perform functional and regression testing on software, define and perform stress testing, and monitor production software. We are looking for someone who can build on existing services and architectures and is excited to create new automated solutions.

We are not constrained by how “things are usually done.” You will be encouraged to dive deep into issues and then reinvent systems, processes, and tools as needed to drive continuous improvement for our customers.

A day in the life

Amazon has a fast-paced environment where we “Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History.” On a “typical” day engineers might deep dive to root cause a customer issue, investigate why a metric is trending the wrong way, consult with the top engineers at Amazon, or discuss radical new approaches to automate operational issues.

We’re an agile, innovative team that is dedicated to supporting our new team members. Our team has a broad mix of experience levels and Amazon tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge sharing and mentorship.

About the team

Why AWS?

Our team is dedicated to supporting new members. We have a broad mix of experience levels and tenures, and we’re building an environment that celebrates knowledge-sharing and mentorship. Our senior members enjoy one-on-one mentoring and thorough, but kind, code reviews. We care about your career growth and strive to assign projects that help our team members develop your engineering expertise so you feel empowered to take on more complex tasks in the future.

Diverse Experiences

AWS values diverse experiences. Even if you do not meet all of the preferred qualifications and skills listed in the job description, we encourage candidates to apply. If your career is just starting, hasn’t followed a traditional path, or includes alternative experiences, don’t let it stop you from applying.

About AWS

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. We pioneered cloud computing and never stopped innovating — that’s why customers from the most successful startups to Global 500 companies trust our robust suite of products and services to power their businesses.

AWS Infrastructure Services (AIS)

AWS Infrastructure Services owns the design, planning, delivery, and operation of all AWS global infrastructure. In other words, we’re the people who keep the cloud running. We support all AWS data centers and all of the servers, storage, networking, power, and cooling equipment that ensure our customers have continual access to the innovation they rely on. We work on the most challenging problems, with thousands of variables impacting the supply chain — and we’re looking for talented people who want to help.

Inclusive Team Culture

AWS values curiosity and connection. Our employee-led and company-sponsored affinity groups promote inclusion and empower our people to take pride in what makes us unique. Our inclusion events foster stronger, more collaborative teams. Our continual innovation is fueled by the bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and passionate voices our teams bring to everything we do.

Mentorship & Career Growth

We’re continuously raising our performance bar as we strive to become Earth’s Best Employer. That’s why you’ll find endless knowledge-sharing, mentorship and other career-advancing resources here to help you develop into a better-rounded professional.

Work/Life Balance

We value work-life harmony. Achieving success at work should never come at the expense of sacrifices at home, which is why we strive for flexibility as part of our working culture. When we feel supported in the workplace and at home, there’s nothing we can’t achieve in the cloud.

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree, or CSSLP (Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional)

  • 4+ years of administrative experience in networking, storage systems, operating systems and hands-on systems engineering experience

  • 3+ years of non-internship professional software development experience

  • 2+ years of designing or architecting (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience

  • Current, active US Government Security Clearance of TS/SCI with Polygraph

Preferred Qualifications

  • 6+ years of administrative experience in networking, storage systems, operating systems and hands-on systems engineering experience

  • Experience programming with at least one modern language such as Python, Ruby, Golang, Java, C++, C#, Rust

  • Experience utilizing AWS cloud solutions in a DevOps environment

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, VA, Herndon - 129,200.00 - 174,800.00 USD annually

How this job compares

Set against the 11,702 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 6, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$129–175K/yr
  • Virginia median$120–182K/yr852 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,618 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $152K, is close to the Virginia median midpoint ($152K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Virginia.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,080 open Systems Engineer jobs in Virginia and 11,702 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Virginia
Experience
This posting asks for at least 4 years of experience; Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years at the median (9,797 postings).
Education
4,445 of the 11,702 open Systems Engineer jobs (38%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 6, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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