diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 7e631d78915..11db5429d7f 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -685,35 +685,18 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
 .restore_pretest_env: &restore_pretest_env
   - source pretest.env
 
-.test_job:
+.test_job_common:
   extends: .gradle_build
   image: ${BUILDER_IMAGE_REPO}:${BUILDER_IMAGE_VERSION_PREFIX}$testJvm
-  tags: [ "docker-in-docker:amd64" ] # use docker-in-docker runner for testcontainers
-  needs: [ build_tests ]
-  stage: tests
   variables:
     <<: *tier_m_variables
     GRADLE_PARAMS: "-PskipFlakyTests"
     CONTINUE_ON_FAILURE: "false"
+    TEST_JVM_ARGS: ""
     TESTCONTAINERS_CHECKS_DISABLE: "true"
     TESTCONTAINERS_RYUK_DISABLED: "true"
     TESTCONTAINERS_HUB_IMAGE_NAME_PREFIX: "registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/"
     JETTY_AVAILABLE_PROCESSORS: 4 # Jetty incorrectly calculates processor count in containers
-  rules:
-    # Protected branches (master/mq/gh-readonly): all JVMs run unconditionally
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "master"'
-      when: on_success
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^mq-working-branch-/'
-      when: on_success
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^gh-readonly-queue/'
-      when: on_success
-    # Enable for default test JVMs or for NON_DEFAULT_JVMS
-    - if: '$NON_DEFAULT_JVMS == "true"'
-      when: on_success
-    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ /\[ci: NON_DEFAULT_JVMS\]/'
-      when: on_success
-    - if: '$testJvm =~ $DEFAULT_TEST_JVMS'
-      when: on_success
   script:
     - *gitlab_base_ref_params
     - >
@@ -722,7 +705,7 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
       export PROFILER_COMMAND="-XX:StartFlightRecording=settings=profile,filename=/tmp/${CI_JOB_NAME_SLUG}.jfr,dumponexit=true";
       fi
     - *prepare_test_env
-    - export GRADLE_OPTS="-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xms$GRADLE_MEMORY_MIN -Xmx$GRADLE_MEMORY_MAX $PROFILER_COMMAND -XX:ErrorFile=/tmp/hs_err_pid%p.log -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:HeapDumpPath=/tmp -Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=/tmp/.java/.userPrefs-${CI_JOB_ID}' -Ddatadog.forkedMinHeapSize=128M -Ddatadog.forkedMaxHeapSize=1024M"
+    - export GRADLE_OPTS="-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='$TEST_JVM_ARGS -Xms$GRADLE_MEMORY_MIN -Xmx$GRADLE_MEMORY_MAX $PROFILER_COMMAND -XX:ErrorFile=/tmp/hs_err_pid%p.log -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:HeapDumpPath=/tmp -Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=/tmp/.java/.userPrefs-${CI_JOB_ID}' -Ddatadog.forkedMinHeapSize=128M -Ddatadog.forkedMaxHeapSize=1024M"
     - ./gradlew --version
     - ./gradlew $GRADLE_TARGET $GRADLE_PARAMS -PtestJvm=$testJvm -Pslot=$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL $GRADLE_ARGS --continue || $CONTINUE_ON_FAILURE
   after_script:
@@ -767,24 +750,44 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
       - scheduler_failure
       - data_integrity_failure
 
+.test_job:
+  extends: .test_job_common
+  tags: [ "docker-in-docker:amd64" ] # use docker-in-docker runner for testcontainers
+  needs: [ build_tests ]
+  stage: tests
+  rules:
+    # Protected branches (master/mq/gh-readonly): all JVMs run unconditionally
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "master"'
+      when: on_success
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^mq-working-branch-/'
+      when: on_success
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH =~ /^gh-readonly-queue/'
+      when: on_success
+    # Enable for default test JVMs or for NON_DEFAULT_JVMS
+    - if: '$NON_DEFAULT_JVMS == "true"'
+      when: on_success
+    - if: '$CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ /\[ci: NON_DEFAULT_JVMS\]/'
+      when: on_success
+    - if: '$testJvm =~ $DEFAULT_TEST_JVMS'
+      when: on_success
+
 .test_job_arm64:
-  image: ${BUILDER_IMAGE_REPO}:${BUILDER_IMAGE_VERSION_PREFIX}$testJvm
+  extends: .test_job_common
   tags: [ "docker-in-docker:arm64" ]
   stage: tests-arm64
-  needs: []
+  # Use the amd64 build only as a compilation gate. Do not download its platform-specific artifacts.
+  needs:
+    - job: build
+      artifacts: false
   variables:
-    <<: *tier_m_variables
     DEFAULT_TEST_JVMS: /^(8|11|17|21|25|27|tip)$/ # Java 27 TODO: remove 27 after GA (tip will move to 27)
-    GRADLE_PARAMS: "-PskipFlakyTests"
-    TESTCONTAINERS_CHECKS_DISABLE: "true"
-    TESTCONTAINERS_RYUK_DISABLED: "true"
-    TESTCONTAINERS_HUB_IMAGE_NAME_PREFIX: "registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/"
-    JETTY_AVAILABLE_PROCESSORS: 4
-    GIT_SUBMODULE_STRATEGY: normal
-    GIT_SUBMODULE_DEPTH: 1
+    TEST_JVM_ARGS: "-Xshare:off"
   rules:
-    # `ibm8`/`oracle8` have no arm64 images published upstream — never run them on arm64.
-    - if: '$testJvm == "ibm8" || $testJvm == "oracle8"'
+    # IBM 8 has no arm64 image published upstream.
+    - if: '$testJvm == "ibm8"'
+      when: never
+    # Oracle 8 is available on arm64 but too flaky to run in CI.
+    - if: '$testJvm == "oracle8"'
       when: never
     # arm64 tests are newly introduced to the merge queue and master. Keep them
     # non-blocking (allow_failure) for now so we can collect stability stats and
@@ -803,6 +806,7 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
     - if: '$CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE =~ /\[ci: NON_DEFAULT_JVMS\]/'
       when: on_success
       allow_failure: true
+    # Keep the default JVM subset available for manual runs on feature branches/PRs.
     - if: '$testJvm =~ $DEFAULT_TEST_JVMS'
       when: manual
       allow_failure: true
@@ -820,75 +824,9 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
       unprotect: true
   before_script:
     - git config --global --add safe.directory "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"
-    # Akka token added to SSM from https://account.akka.io/token
-    - export ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_akkaRepositoryToken=$(aws ssm get-parameter --region us-east-1 --name ci.dd-trace-java.akka_repo_token --with-decryption --query "Parameter.Value" --out text)
-    - export ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_mavenRepositoryProxy=$MAVEN_REPOSITORY_PROXY
-    - export ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_gradlePluginProxy=$GRADLE_PLUGIN_PROXY
-    - |
-      JAVA_HOMES=$(env | grep -E '^JAVA_[A-Z0-9_]+_HOME=' | sed 's/=.*//' | paste -sd,)
-      cat >> gradle.properties <<EOF
-      org.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=false
-      org.gradle.java.installations.auto-download=false
-      org.gradle.java.installations.fromEnv=$JAVA_HOMES
-      EOF
-    - mkdir -p .gradle .mvn/caches
-    # GitLab's cache helper restores .gradle as root, but we run as non-root-user (uid 1001),
-    # and Gradle does `chmod 700 .gradle` on startup which requires user ownership.
-    - sudo chown -R 1001:1001 .gradle
-    - export GRADLE_USER_HOME=$(pwd)/.gradle
-    # Apache Maven Wrapper supports MVNW_REPOURL for repository-manager downloads:
-    # https://maven.apache.org/tools/wrapper/#Using_a_Maven_Repository_Manager
-    - export MVNW_REPOURL=${MAVEN_REPOSITORY_PROXY%/}
-    # Route Gradle distribution download through MASS pull-through cache
-    - |
-      mass_read_host="${MASS_READ_URL#https://}"
-      mass_read_host="${mass_read_host%/}"
-      sed -i "/^distributionUrl=/ s|services.gradle.org|${mass_read_host}/internal/artifact/services.gradle.org|" gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
-    - *normalize_node_index
-    - *prepare_test_env
-    # Disable CDS in forked JVMs to avoid SIGSEGVs on Linux arm64.
-    - export GRADLE_OPTS="-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs='-Xshare:off -Xms$GRADLE_MEMORY_MIN -Xmx$GRADLE_MEMORY_MAX -XX:ErrorFile=/tmp/hs_err_pid%p.log -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:HeapDumpPath=/tmp -Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=/tmp/.java/.userPrefs-${CI_JOB_ID}' -Ddatadog.forkedMinHeapSize=128M -Ddatadog.forkedMaxHeapSize=1024M"
-    - export GRADLE_ARGS="--build-cache --stacktrace --no-daemon --parallel --max-workers=$GRADLE_WORKERS"
-    - ./gradlew --version
-  script:
-    - *gitlab_base_ref_params
-    - ./gradlew $GRADLE_TARGET $GRADLE_PARAMS -PtestJvm=$testJvm -Pslot=$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL $GRADLE_ARGS --continue
-  after_script:
-    - *restore_pretest_env
-    - *set_datadog_api_keys
-    - *container_info
-    - *cgroup_info
-    - source .gitlab/gitlab-utils.sh
-    - gitlab_section_start "collect-reports" "Collecting reports"
-    - .gitlab/collect_reports.sh
-    - .gitlab/collect_results.sh
-    - .gitlab/upload_ciapp.sh $CACHE_TYPE $testJvm
-    - gitlab_section_end "collect-reports"
-    - .gitlab/count_tests.sh "$GRADLE_TARGET" "$testJvm" "./results" "./test_counts_${CI_JOB_ID}.json"
-    - URL_ENCODED_JOB_NAME=$(jq -rn --arg x "$CI_JOB_NAME" '$x|@uri')
-    - echo -e "${TEXT_BOLD}${TEXT_YELLOW}See test results in Datadog:${TEXT_CLEAR} https://app.datadoghq.com/ci/test/runs?query=test_level%3Atest%20%40test.service%3Add-trace-java%20%40ci.pipeline.id%3A${CI_PIPELINE_ID}%20%40ci.job.name%3A%22${URL_ENCODED_JOB_NAME}%22"
-  artifacts:
-    when: always
-    paths:
-      - ./reports.tar
-      - ./profiles.tar
-      - ./results
-      - './test_counts_*.json'
-      - '.gradle/daemon/*/*.out.log'
-    reports:
-      junit: results/*.xml
-  retry:
-    max: 2
-    when:
-      - unknown_failure
-      - stuck_or_timeout_failure
-      - runner_system_failure
-      - unmet_prerequisites
-      - scheduler_failure
-      - data_integrity_failure
+    - !reference [.gradle_build, before_script]
 
-.test_job_arm64_with_test_agent:
-  extends: .test_job_arm64
+.test_job_with_test_agent_common:
   variables:
     CI_USE_TEST_AGENT: "true"
     CI_AGENT_HOST: local-agent
@@ -903,27 +841,18 @@ muzzle-dep-report:
         DD_DISABLE_ERROR_RESPONSES: "true"
         ENABLED_CHECKS: "trace_content_length,trace_stall,meta_tracer_version_header,trace_count_header,trace_peer_service,trace_dd_service"
   script:
-    - !reference [.test_job_arm64, script]
+    - !reference [.test_job_common, script]
     - .gitlab/check_test_agent_results.sh
 
 .test_job_with_test_agent:
-  extends: .test_job
-  variables:
-    CI_USE_TEST_AGENT: "true"
-    CI_AGENT_HOST: local-agent
-  services:
-    - name: registry.ddbuild.io/images/mirror/dd-apm-test-agent/ddapm-test-agent:v1.64.1
-      alias: local-agent
-      variables:
-        LOG_LEVEL: "DEBUG"
-        TRACE_LANGUAGE: "java"
-        DD_SUPPRESS_TRACE_PARSE_ERRORS: "true"
-        DD_POOL_TRACE_CHECK_FAILURES: "true"
-        DD_DISABLE_ERROR_RESPONSES: "true"
-        ENABLED_CHECKS: "trace_content_length,trace_stall,meta_tracer_version_header,trace_count_header,trace_peer_service,trace_dd_service"
-  script:
-    - !reference [.test_job, script]
-    - .gitlab/check_test_agent_results.sh
+  extends:
+    - .test_job
+    - .test_job_with_test_agent_common
+
+.test_job_arm64_with_test_agent:
+  extends:
+    - .test_job_arm64
+    - .test_job_with_test_agent_common
 
 agent_integration_tests:
   extends: .test_job
@@ -960,7 +889,7 @@ test_base:
     matrix: *test_matrix_4
   script:
     - if [ "$testJvm" == "8" ]; then export GRADLE_PARAMS="-PskipFlakyTests -PcheckCoverage"; fi
-    - !reference [.test_job, script]
+    - !reference [.test_job_common, script]
 
 test_base_arm64:
   extends: .test_job_arm64
@@ -972,7 +901,7 @@ test_base_arm64:
   # run coverage only on JVM 8, mirroring the amd64 test_base job
   script:
     - if [ "$testJvm" == "8" ]; then export GRADLE_PARAMS="$GRADLE_PARAMS -PcheckCoverage"; fi
-    - !reference [.test_job_arm64, script]
+    - !reference [.test_job_common, script]
 
 test_inst:
   extends: .test_job_with_test_agent
@@ -1100,7 +1029,7 @@ test_debugger:
   # exepected coverage
   script:
     - if [[ "$testJvm" != "semeru8" && "$testJvm" != "semeru11" && "$testJvm" != "semeru17" && "$testJvm" != "ibm8" ]]; then export GRADLE_PARAMS="$GRADLE_PARAMS -PcheckCoverage"; fi
-    - !reference [.test_job, script]
+    - !reference [.test_job_common, script]
 
 test_debugger_arm64:
   extends: .test_job_arm64
@@ -1113,7 +1042,7 @@ test_debugger_arm64:
   # expected coverage (ibm8/oracle8 never run on arm64)
   script:
     - if [[ "$testJvm" != "semeru8" && "$testJvm" != "semeru11" && "$testJvm" != "semeru17" ]]; then export GRADLE_PARAMS="$GRADLE_PARAMS -PcheckCoverage"; fi
-    - !reference [.test_job_arm64, script]
+    - !reference [.test_job_common, script]
 
 test_smoke:
   extends: .test_job_with_test_agent