IMO, you should forget about compiler engineering as working on the backend of, say, gcc, or llvm. Yes, there are such positions (e.g., intel needs people adapting compilers to new processor instruction sets) but they are few and very specialized.

Instead, think about languages in general. There is a myriad of opportunities between the js eco system, JVM and .NET, things like Rust and even low-level languages like LLVM. It should be straightforward to pick features from one eco system and port them to another. Say linear types from Rust to the JVM. Pick one or two such features, port them to your favorite eco system and provide a prototype compiler/macro library on github. With that kind of experience under your belt, you should be the goto guy for any software company that does tooling in that ecosystem. From that vantage point you could start looking for ever more interesting work.