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Software Development Engineer, Amazon Java Runtime

Software Development Engineer, Amazon Java Runtime at Amazon scores 24 out of 100 on AI centrality, which makes it AI Level 1 of 4 (Little AI) on this board. The level measures how much of the work is AI, not seniority.

US, WA, Seattleseniorfull-time$168k-$227k

AI in this role

Are you fascinated by what happens beneath your code — how a compiler turns bytecode into blistering machine instructions, how a garbage collector reclaims memory without anyone noticing, how a runtime squeezes the last drop of performance out of the hardware? Maybe you've worked on garbage collection in a managed runtime like HotSpot, the .NET CLR, V8, or Chakra. Maybe you earned your expertise the hard way — tuning live services for performance and resilience under real production load. Whatever your path, the Java Runtimes Team at Amazon, owners of Amazon Corretto, would love to talk with you.

Java powers the majority of services at Amazon and nearly all public-facing AWS services. When we make the runtime faster or leaner, thousands of services — and millions of customers — feel it. You will work at the intersection of compilers, garbage collection, and systems software: finding bottlenecks in real running services, developing patches to the OpenJDK compiler, runtime, and libraries, and shipping them to every Amazon developer. You'll share what you learn with the broader engineering community and contribute your improvements back to OpenJDK — where the whole world runs them too.

This is deep, high-leverage systems work with an unusually direct line from your keyboard to global impact. We care about scalability, availability, and efficiency — and about going above and beyond to deliver the best possible Java experience for Amazon's internal teams, Corretto users, and the OpenJDK community.

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
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.

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
- 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.

Preferred qualifications

- 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