Key job responsibilities
Identify areas for improvement using data from real running services, and turn those findings into concrete compiler, GC, and runtime optimizations.
Design, implement, and benchmark improvements to JIT compilation, garbage collection, and core runtime subsystems in the OpenJDK compiler, runtime, and libraries.
Contribute your changes upstream to OpenJDK and to Amazon Corretto, working through code review and the community process.
Tune runtime behavior for performance and efficiency across x86 and Graviton (AArch64) architectures.
Build profiling, observability, and auto-tuning tooling so runtime expertise scales across the fleet.
Share your findings with the engineering community and help service teams adopt runtime improvements and newer JDK versions
About the team
Amazon Software Builder Experience (ASBX), started in 2022, is working to make Amazon the best place to build software. Every day, hundreds of thousands of Amazon software builders rely on us for the tools they build with, and for the technology, training, and community behind them. One of our most important responsibilities is shaping the language ecosystem, both inside Amazon and across the open-source community, to improve the experience for every software builder.
In 2018 the team migrated Amazon's default JDK to OpenJDK, building rigorous security and quality mechanisms around it so that security and custom patches land internally the moment they are ready. We took that expertise and launched Amazon Corretto, Amazon's no-cost, production-ready distribution of OpenJDK — bringing our enhancements to customers and the OpenJDK community at large. Today we push the runtime forward across x86 and Graviton (AArch64) fleets, and we increasingly encode deep runtime expertise into tooling so that fleet-wide performance gains scale far beyond one-to-one consultation.
5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
Direct contributions to OpenJDK, the HotSpot JVM, or another production managed runtime (e.g. .NET CLR, V8, or Chakra).
Compiler backend or optimization experience — instruction selection, register allocation, code generation, escape analysis, inlining, or intrinsics.
Familiarity with JVM internals such as bytecode, class loading, JIT deoptimization, tiered compilation, or the JVMCI / Graal interfaces.
A track record of upstream open-source contributions, published performance work, or conference talks.
A master's or PhD in Computer Science or a related field with a focus on compilers, runtimes, or systems.
Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical initiatives across teams
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 - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually
