Senior Software Engineer (Java) - Optimizer Hub

Senior Software Engineer - Optimizer Hub

Azul is building the Java platform for the modern cloud enterprise, reimagining how customers use Java to deliver faster, more performant, and dependable Java services. Join one of the most influential members of the Java and OpenJDK community.

About the Product:

Azul Optimizer Hub (OptHub) is a set of services external to the JVM within Azul Platform Prime, designed to run in your cloud or on-premises environment. It includes:

• Cloud Native Compiler: Separates the heavy lifting of compiling bytecode to optimized machine code from the actual running of Java applications.
• ReadyNow Orchestrator: Ensures consistent responsiveness and performance during instance scaling and critical periods.

Your Role:

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Optimizer Hub team, you will design and build high-quality, scalable backend components for our JVM performance platform. You will collaborate closely with product managers, performance engineers, and JVM experts.

• Design, develop, and maintain high-performance Java services, including protocols, APIs, data storage, and real-time optimization engines.
• Build and evolve server-side OptHub components that communicate with the JVM at scale across cloud and on-premises environments.
• Debug complex distributed systems issues with limited diagnostic data and under performance constraints.
• Design and implement observability, profiling, and diagnostic tooling.
• Drive performance analysis and improvement through benchmarking and profiler output interpretation.
• Participate in design discussions and code reviews to elevate team standards.

Key Requirements:

• 5+ years of professional Java development experience, focusing on backend and server-side systems.
• Deep understanding of JVM internals (memory management, garbage collection, JIT compilation, threading).
• Experience building and operating distributed systems and microservices in production.
• Proficiency with concurrency, low-latency design, and performance optimization techniques in Java.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and container orchestration (Kubernetes).
• Ability to design clean APIs and protocols.
• Strong debugging skills for hard-to-reproduce production issues.

Nice to Have:

• Familiarity with JVM-adjacent technologies (JVM agents, JVMTI, bytecode manipulation).
• Experience with C/C++ or other low-level languages.
• Background in performance engineering, profilers, or runtime observability.
• Experience with gRPC, Protocol Buffers, or high-throughput messaging systems.
• Prior work in a Java platform, middleware, or infrastructure product company.