Senior Software Engineer - Apple JDK

In this role, you have the opportunity to help secure the Java virtual machine. The AppleJDK team at Apple is looking for system programmers with experience in programming languages, compilers, and virtual machines. You will be working to deliver secure services for all Apple Java services both proactively, by ensuring new features are implemented securely, and reactively, by responding to and addressing Java security work across Services. This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role at the intersection of systems programming, language runtimes, and performance engineering. Join us!

• BS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Extensive professional experience in C, C++, and Java
• Deep expertise in one or more of the following: Static or JIT compilation, garbage collection, memory allocators, or language runtimes
• Hands-on experience developing or contributing to virtual machines such as: HotSpot, GraalVM, V8, JSC, or similar.
• Excellent debugging, analytical reasoning, and written/verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to drive technical initiatives across teams and influence without authority

Preferred Qualifications

• Track record of contributions to OpenJDK or other open-source runtime/compiler projects
• Experience with memory-safety techniques, fuzzing, or security hardening of native runtimes
• Familiarity with performance profiling and optimization at scale (e.g., perf, async-profiler, JFR)
• Experience designing or reviewing secure native interop (JNI, FFM / Project Panama)
• Background in mentoring engineers or leading technical working groups
• Strong assembly-level programming skills, preferably with the ARM64 (AArch64) instruction set