diff --git a/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager.py b/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager.py
index eb5b9f46..425d83b3 100644
--- a/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager.py
+++ b/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import dataclasses
 import functools
 import multiprocessing
+import psutil
 import threading
 
 from absl import logging
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@
 
 from contextlib import AbstractContextManager
 from multiprocessing import connection
-from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Optional
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Optional
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass(frozen=True)
@@ -214,6 +215,18 @@ def shutdown(self):
       except:  # pylint: disable=bare-except
         pass
 
+    def set_nice(self, val: int):
+      """Sets the nice-ness of the process, this modifies how the OS
+      schedules it. Only works on Unix, since val is presumed to be an int.
+      """
+      psutil.Process(self._process.pid).nice(val)
+
+    def set_affinity(self, val: List[int]):
+      """Sets the CPU affinity of the process, this modifies which cores the OS
+      schedules it on.
+      """
+      psutil.Process(self._process.pid).cpu_affinity(val)
+
     def join(self):
       self._observer.join()
       self._pump.join()
@@ -247,3 +260,11 @@ def __exit__(self, *args):
     # now wait for the message pumps to indicate they exit.
     for s in self._stubs:
       s.join()
+
+  def __del__(self):
+    self.__exit__()
+
+  @property
+  def stubs(self):
+    # Return a shallow copy, to avoid something messing the internal list up
+    return list(self._stubs)
diff --git a/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager_test.py b/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager_test.py
index 21a8c0ab..75aa9075 100644
--- a/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager_test.py
+++ b/compiler_opt/distributed/local/local_worker_manager_test.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 """Test for local worker manager."""
 
 import concurrent.futures
-import multiprocessing
 import time
 
 from absl.testing import absltest
diff --git a/compiler_opt/distributed/worker.py b/compiler_opt/distributed/worker.py
index 46b32df7..ff040d8e 100644
--- a/compiler_opt/distributed/worker.py
+++ b/compiler_opt/distributed/worker.py
@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 """Common abstraction for a worker contract."""
 
-from typing import Iterable, Optional, TypeVar, Protocol
+from typing import Iterable, Optional, Protocol, TypeVar
 
 
-class Worker:
+class Worker(Protocol):
 
   @classmethod
   def is_priority_method(cls, method_name: str) -> bool:
diff --git a/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner.py b/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner.py
index aa835de1..91060f80 100644
--- a/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner.py
+++ b/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import dataclasses
 import json
 import os
+import signal
 import subprocess
 import threading
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@ def __init__(self):
     # empty() is accurate and get() never blocks.
     self._processes = set()
     self._done = False
+    self._paused = False
     self._lock = threading.Lock()
 
   def enable(self):
@@ -129,10 +131,33 @@ def kill_all_processes(self):
     for p in self._processes:
       kill_process_ignore_exceptions(p)
 
+  def pause_all_processes(self):
+    with self._lock:
+      if self._paused:
+        return
+      self._paused = True
+
+      for p in self._processes:
+        # used to send the STOP signal; does not actually kill the process
+        os.kill(p.pid, signal.SIGSTOP)
+
+  def resume_all_processes(self):
+    with self._lock:
+      if not self._paused:
+        return
+      self._paused = False
+
+      for p in self._processes:
+        # used to send the CONTINUE signal; does not actually kill the process
+        os.kill(p.pid, signal.SIGCONT)
+
   def unregister_process(self, p: 'subprocess.Popen[bytes]'):
     with self._lock:
-      if not self._done:
-        self._processes.remove(p)
+      self._processes.remove(p)
+
+  def __del__(self):
+    if len(self._processes) > 0:
+      raise RuntimeError('Cancellation manager deleted while containing items.')
 
 
 def start_cancellable_process(
@@ -174,6 +199,7 @@ def start_cancellable_process(
     finally:
       if cancellation_manager:
         cancellation_manager.unregister_process(p)
+
     if retcode != 0:
       raise ProcessKilledError(
       ) if retcode == -9 else subprocess.CalledProcessError(retcode, cmdline)
@@ -249,7 +275,9 @@ class CompilationRunner(Worker):
 
   @classmethod
   def is_priority_method(cls, method_name: str) -> bool:
-    return method_name == 'cancel_all_work'
+    return method_name in {
+        'cancel_all_work', 'pause_all_work', 'resume_all_work'
+    }
 
   def __init__(self,
                clang_path: Optional[str] = None,
@@ -275,6 +303,12 @@ def enable(self):
   def cancel_all_work(self):
     self._cancellation_manager.kill_all_processes()
 
+  def pause_all_work(self):
+    self._cancellation_manager.pause_all_processes()
+
+  def resume_all_work(self):
+    self._cancellation_manager.resume_all_processes()
+
   def collect_data(
       self, module_spec: corpus.ModuleSpec, tf_policy_path: str,
       reward_stat: Optional[Dict[str, RewardStat]]) -> CompilationResult:
diff --git a/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner_test.py b/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner_test.py
index 28b7178f..4390d51d 100644
--- a/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner_test.py
+++ b/compiler_opt/rl/compilation_runner_test.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import os
 import string
 import subprocess
+import threading
 import time
 from unittest import mock
 
@@ -213,9 +214,9 @@ def test_exception_handling(self, mock_compile_fn):
     self.assertEqual(1, mock_compile_fn.call_count)
 
   def test_start_subprocess_output(self):
-    ct = compilation_runner.WorkerCancellationManager()
+    cm = compilation_runner.WorkerCancellationManager()
     output = compilation_runner.start_cancellable_process(
-        ['ls', '-l'], timeout=100, cancellation_manager=ct, want_output=True)
+        ['ls', '-l'], timeout=100, cancellation_manager=cm, want_output=True)
     if output:
       output_str = output.decode('utf-8')
     else:
@@ -235,6 +236,23 @@ def test_timeout_kills_process(self):
     time.sleep(2)
     self.assertFalse(os.path.exists(sentinel_file))
 
+  def test_pause_resume(self):
+    cm = compilation_runner.WorkerCancellationManager()
+    start_time = time.time()
+
+    def stop_and_start():
+      time.sleep(0.25)
+      cm.pause_all_processes()
+      time.sleep(1)
+      cm.resume_all_processes()
+
+    threading.Thread(target=stop_and_start).start()
+    compilation_runner.start_cancellable_process(['sleep', '0.5'],
+                                                 30,
+                                                 cancellation_manager=cm)
+    # should be at least 1 second due to the pause.
+    self.assertGreater(time.time() - start_time, 1)
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   tf.test.main()
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 98456846..aa710053 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ oauthlib==3.1.1
 opt-einsum==3.3.0
 pillow==8.3.1
 protobuf==3.17.3
+psutil==5.9.0
 pyasn1==0.4.8
 pyasn1_modules==0.2.8
 pyglet==1.5.0