Software Development Engineer, Amazon Java Runtime

About the role

The Java Runtimes Team (JRT) owns and advances the Java runtime that powers a large share of Amazon's production services. We work at the intersection of language runtimes, compilers, and hardware - tuning the JVM and its ecosystem so that thousands of services run faster, use less memory, and scale more efficiently across x86 and Graviton (AArch64) fleets. We contribute directly to OpenJDK and our Corretto JDK, and we build the tooling that turns deep runtime expertise into automated, fleet-wide performance gains.

We are hiring a Runtime Engineer to work across three closely-linked areas: the JIT compiler, garbage collection, and systems-level software optimization. You will profile real production workloads, identify runtime bottlenecks, prototype and land improvements in the JVM, and help encode that expertise into tools that scale beyond one-to-one consultation.

Key job responsibilities

• Analyze production JVM workloads to identify compiler, GC, and runtime bottlenecks, and translate findings into concrete optimizations.
• Design, implement, and benchmark improvements to JIT compilation, garbage collection, and core runtime subsystems.
• Contribute changes upstream to OpenJDK and to Amazon Corretto, working through code review and community processes.
• Tune runtime behavior for performance and efficiency across x86 and Graviton (AArch64) architectures.
• Build and improve profiling, observability, and auto-tuning tooling so runtime expertise scales across the fleet rather than through manual, per-service consultation.
• Validate performance and reliability of changes against real workloads before broad rollout.
• Partner with service teams to drive adoption of runtime improvements and newer JDK versions.

Basic Qualifications

• 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

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations experience
• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
• Knowledge of ARM CPUs
• Experience contributing to OpenJDK, the HotSpot JVM, or another production language runtime.
• Depth in one or more GC algorithms (G1, ZGC, Shenandoah, or generational collectors) and their performance trade-offs.
• Compiler backend or optimization experience (instruction selection, code generation, escape analysis, inlining, or similar).
• A track record of upstream open-source contributions or published performance work.

Additional information

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If the country/region you're applying in isn't listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

Pay and benefits

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.

USA, WA, Seattle - 168,100.00 - 227,400.00 USD annually