I noted with interest the announcement that Amazon would begin collecting sales taxes in North Carolina. This seemed curious since the Constitution’s Commerce Clause means Congress is the only entity that can regulate interstate commerce and thus the state can’t impose taxes on Amazon. As far as I knew, Amazon doesn’t have a physical presence in North Carolina. It seemed strange to me that Amazon would willingly start paying taxes. Who does that?
Well, looks like I found the reason. This job ad from Amazon ran on Craigslist yesterday and there are plenty more on other job sites. Amazon.com is interviewing for software developers and says they’re coming to Raleigh!
Software Engineer, Digital Products (coming to Raleigh) (Seattle, WA)
We will be in the Raleigh area conducting interviews February 20th-21st!!
Email meganv[redacted] for more informationThe Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire are revolutionary consumer devices that have become the #1 best-selling Amazon products. They are among the most innovative and fastest growing businesses at both Amazon and the entire consumer electronics industry. We are looking for talented software engineers to join our team. This is an enormous opportunity to lead the design, architecture, and implementation of products used every day by people you know.
Responsibilities include:
Development and maintenance of key system features
Work with other team members to investigate design approaches, prototype new technology and evaluate technical feasibility
Work in an Agile/Scrum environment to deliver high quality software against aggressive schedules4-10+ years of experience building production software systems
Computer Science fundamentals (based on a BS or MS in CS or related technical field)
Experience with a variety of modern programming languages (Java, JavaScript, C/C++, Objective C, Python) and open-source technologies (Linux, SQLite, OpenGL, Spring, Hibernate)
Experience defining, developing and maintaining REST based interfacesMaster’s degree in Computer Science
Experience developing cloud software services and an understanding of design for scalability, performance and reliability
Experience leading and delivering complex software systems
Experience in applying open-source technologies
Experience in releasing software to the development community
Experience with professional software engineering practices and best practices for the full software development life cycle
Experience taking projects from scoping requirements through launch of the project
Excellence in technical communication with peers and non-technical cohorts
Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment such as with multiple priorities
Strong written and verbal communication skillsAmazon.com is an equal opportunity employer
This is awesome news! Welcome to Raleigh, Amazon!
Update: The N&O’s Craig Jarvis mentioned the company would be making an “unspecified investment” in his sales tax story:
Federal law doesn’t require online retailers to charge sales tax in states where they don’t have a store or some other physical operation. The company says it will be making an unspecified investment in North Carolina.
So there ya go.
Update 5:28 PM: A friend suggests that Amazon could simply be interviewing here and not opening up shop. That’s not as exciting as a new development shop, but we’ll see what, if anything, comes of this.
Update 6:51 PM: I haven’t heard back from the recruiter but it seems that Amazon is recruiting for Seattle. Oh well. I guess the “unspecified investment” will go on being unspecified.