Senior Software Engineer (C++, Parser /Compiler Development)

It's fun to work in a company where people truly BELIEVE in what they're doing!

Job Description Summary:

Senior C/C++ Software Engineer (P4) with deep expertise in system‑level architecture, high‑performance development, and cross‑platform engineering across Windows and Linux. Strong passion for compiler design, language processing, and parsing technologies, with experience or strong interest in building and evolving parsers, interpreters, or code analysis tools for complex languages (e.g., JCL, COBOL, SQL, or similar).

Skilled in abstracting OS‑specific functionality using Qt to deliver portable, reliable, and scalable system components. Strong SQL expertise across major databases (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL). Experienced in modernizing legacy systems, including porting Windows applications to Linux.

Hands‑on proficiency with AI code assistants and containerization, enabling increased developer efficiency and modern delivery workflows. Experience with IBM i and IBM z platforms is desirable.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead collaboration with product, architecture, and cross‑functional teams to translate complex business and end‑user requirements into robust technical designs, with a strong focus on language processing, parsing frameworks, and code analysis capabilities.
• Design, architect, and deliver large‑scale, enterprise‑grade software systems, including parser engines, compiler‑like components, and language analysis pipelines, ensuring performance, scalability, accuracy, and maintainability.
• Drive architectural discussions and technical direction for parsing and compiler‑adjacent subsystems, including grammar design, AST construction, semantic analysis, and extensibility for multiple source languages (e.g., JCL, COBOL, SQL).
• Identify systemic code quality, performance, and architectural issues, particularly within parsing pipelines and grammar-based systems, and lead remediation through refactoring, redesign, or standardization.
• Produce high‑quality technical documentation, including grammar specifications, parser architecture designs, and language-processing workflows; clearly communicate complex concepts to engineering and leadership stakeholders.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex debugging and production issues, including parsing errors, grammar ambiguities, and language edge cases, driving deep root‑cause analysis and resolution.
• Operate with full autonomy to deliver complex enhancements such as new language support, parser extensions, or improvements to analysis accuracy and performance.
• Develop deep expertise in system‑level integration, including how parsing and metadata extraction integrate with downstream systems (e.g., data lineage, analysis platforms, or databases).
• Demonstrate technical leadership in collaborative engineering practices, including reviewing parser implementations, validating grammar changes, and enforcing coding standards for language-processing components.
• Model a strong team‑oriented culture while fostering domain expertise in compiler theory, parsing strategies, and language evolution across the team.
• Champion continuous learning and innovation in compiler techniques, parsing algorithms, and code analysis methodologies, evaluating new tools and approaches.
• Exhibit strategic curiosity and an innovation mindset, proposing new approaches to improve parsing accuracy, performance, extensibility, and support for additional languages or dialects.
  
  

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a proven record of delivering complex, high‑impact systems, including language processing, parsing, or compiler‑like systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading large‑scale initiatives involving parsing frameworks, grammar‑driven systems, or code analysis platforms.
• Expert‑level proficiency in C++, with deep understanding of object‑oriented design, memory management, and performance optimization in parser or compiler‑adjacent workloads.
• Strong understanding of compiler fundamentals, including lexical analysis, parsing techniques (LL/LR), AST design, and semantic processing.
• Hands‑on experience designing, building, or extending parsers, interpreters, or static analysis tools for structured or semi‑structured languages (e.g., JCL, COBOL, SQL, or similar).
• Familiarity with parser/grammar tooling such as ANTLR, yacc/bison, JavaCC, or equivalent, including ability to design, debug, and evolve grammars.
• Strong understanding of REST APIs, distributed systems, and RDBMS concepts, with SQL expertise across SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.
• Extensive experience designing and developing enterprise‑grade applications, frameworks, or platform components.
• Strong proficiency in Windows and Linux environments, including debugging complex system‑level and parser-related issues.
• Ability to mentor engineers and guide best practices in parsing design, grammar management, and language evolution.
• Strong communication skills, capable of explaining complex parsing logic and compiler concepts to diverse audiences.
• Advanced expertise in Qt Core and low‑level modules.
• Skilled at reducing platform‑specific code and increasing portability across Windows and Linux.
• Strong command of OS internals, filesystems, threading models, and debugging tools.
• Highly desirable: experience porting Windows applications to Linux.
• Exposure to IBM i (AS/400) and/or IBM z architectures desirable, especially experience working with legacy language formats and mainframe source parsing.
  
  

AI & Developer Productivity Tools

• Hands-on experience using AI code assistants such as: GitHub Copilot Microsoft Copilot
• Ability to leverage AI tools for: Code generation Refactoring Unit test creation Documentation Development acceleration
• Strong understanding of validating and responsibly integrating AI‑generated code into complex parsing or compiler pipelines.
  
  

Containerization & DevOps

• Proficiency with Docker for: Image creation Multi-stage builds Debugging containerized applications Optimizing images for performance and footprint
• Experience containerizing parser engines, batch analysis workloads, or language-processing services.
  
  

Leadership & Senior-Level Responsibilities

• Defines system architecture and drives design decisions, including parser frameworks and language-processing subsystems
• Mentors engineers and leads deep technical reviews, particularly in grammar design, parsing logic, and performance optimization
• Drives complex root-cause analysis for production issues, including language edge cases and parsing inaccuracies
• Partners with cross-functional teams to align product direction with language support and parsing strategy
• Owns long-term initiatives such as adding support for new programming languages or evolving parsing platforms
• Models engineering excellence in building reliable, extensible, and high-performance parsing systems
  
  

Rocket Software Inc. is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Rocket Software Inc. is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

At Rocket Software, we believe AI is a critical enabler of innovation and productivity. All Rocketeers are expected to actively leverage AI-powered tools and technologies, where appropriate, to enhance efficiency, improve decision-making, and deliver greater impact in their roles. Embracing continuous learning and the responsible use of AI is an essential part of how we work.

As part of our commitment to a safe and trustworthy workplace, we include background and reference checks in our hiring process.

Rocket is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you need special assistance or an accommodation while seeking employment, please call: [phone removed] or send an email to [HIDDEN TEXT]. We will make a determination on your request for reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis.

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over-achievers, you'll enjoy your career with us!