I've recently become really interested in the details of programming languages, type systems, optimizations and compilers in general. Seems like a fascinating subject, with a lot of depth. I'm looking to move to a different job soon and want to work on something like that. I have some questions for the wise folks of HN:

What kinds of companies or specific companies need programmers working in this area?

Is it possible to break into the field without much prior experience (also I am a junior dev)? I'm working on a lisp interpreter and have read a bunch about compilers but don't have much experience. Honestly i'm confident i can pick up whatever i need to learn and will put in time, but that doesn't count for much in an interview.