Senior Compiler Performance Engineer

Remote; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Azul Systems is seeking a Senior Compiler Performance Engineer to own major performance areas of Falcon, the optimizing JIT in Azul Platform Prime. You will push generated code further, design impactful optimizations, and deliver measurable speedups on real workloads.

You will work with a distributed team of compiler experts, influence future optimizations, and contribute to LLVM where appropriate. Strong C++ and performance analysis skills are essential for success.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing optimizing compilers or JIT compilers.
• Strong C++ design and coding skills in large codebases.
• Proven track record of delivering compiler optimizations with measurable performance impact.
• Deep knowledge of compiler optimization theory and its practical tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Own performance of Falcon for a set of workloads or an optimization area end to end: analysis, design, implementation, validation.
• Design and implement new optimizations and improve existing ones in the middle end and back end: inlining heuristics, loop optimizations, vectorization, escape analysis, speculation and deoptimization, GC barrier and runtime call optimization.
• Drive code generation quality on x86_64 and AArch64, including bringing Falcon to new hardware platforms.
• Investigate complex performance issues reported by customers and turn findings into compiler improvements.
• Review code, mentor engineers on the team and raise the bar for performance methodology.
• Contribute to upstream LLVM where it makes sense.

Skills

C++ design

Optimizing compilers / JITs

Performance analysis

Code generation

Inlining & vectorization

LLVM knowledge

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Tools

LLVM

JIT concepts

Job description

Falcon is the optimizing just in time (JIT) compiler in Azul Platform Prime. It compiles hot Java bytecode into highly optimized machine code and delivers Java performance that standard JVMs do not reach. Falcon is built on LLVM.

We are looking for a Senior Compiler Performance Engineer to own major performance areas of Falcon. This is not a compiler front end role and not a compiler built from scratch: Falcon is mature and runs in production at large enterprises. Your job is to push its generated code further, deciding which optimizations matter, designing them and delivering measurable speedups on real workloads.

You will work in a distributed team of compiler experts, with direct influence on what Falcon optimizes next.

What You Will Do (aka Responsibilities)

• Own performance of Falcon for a set of workloads or an optimization area end to end: analysis, design, implementation, validation
• Design and implement new optimizations and improve existing ones in the middle end and back end: inlining heuristics, loop optimizations, vectorization, escape analysis, speculation and deoptimization, GC barrier and runtime call optimization
• Drive code generation quality on x86_64 and AArch64, including bringing Falcon to new hardware platforms
• Investigate complex performance issues reported by customers and turn findings into compiler improvements
• Review code, mentor engineers on the team and raise the bar for performance methodology
• Contribute to upstream LLVM where it makes sense

What You'll Bring (Experience, Skills)

• 5+ years of professional experience developing optimizing compilers or JIT compilers
• Strong C++ design and coding skills in large codebases
• Proven track record of delivering compiler optimizations with measurable performance impact
• Deep knowledge of compiler optimization theory and its practical tradeoffs: compile time, code size, correctness
• Strong performance analysis skills: profilers, hardware counters, reading and reasoning about generated assembly

Nice to Have

• Significant experience with LLVM optimization passes or code generation; LLVM commit access is a plus
• Experience with JIT compilers for managed languages: HotSpot C2, Graal, V8, .NET RyuJIT or similar
• Deep knowledge of x86_64 and/or AArch64 microarchitecture
• Experience with JVM internals: garbage collection, deoptimization, profiling
• PhD in Computer Science or significant research experience in compilers