Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Analytics & Data Engineering

The Apple Services Engineering team combines art and technology to power some of Apple's most beloved services—including the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books. We build secure, performant, and privacy-first solutions on a massive global scale, delivering rich entertainment in over 35 languages to more than 150 countries.

We are seeking an extraordinary Machine Learning Engineer to join our geographically diverse team. In this role, you will innovate, design, and craft the AI/ML foundation that keeps our AI/ML solutions secure, private, performant, and highly scalable. If you are passionate about improving engineering processes, exploring cutting-edge tech, and building robust systems at Apple-scale, we want to hear from you!

Description

As a Machine Learning Engineer on our team, you will dive into a variety of unique problems that directly impact Apple Products.

Build & Innovate: Research and develop state-of-the-art AI/ML solutions and tools that transform how we train, deploy, and monitor models that power features in Apple Products.

Scale & Secure: Work at the intersection of scale and privacy. You will design secure, private, and highly performant systems, ensuring our systems respect and protect user privacy as a core engineering feature.

Collaborate & Influence: Act as a technical leader. You will collaborate with broader teams across Apple, actively participating in design discussions, giving and receiving constructive feedback, and mentoring junior engineers.

Champion Quality: Participate in our highly collaborative environment to elevate our engineering standards. From design reviews and rigorous code reviews to robust test automation, you will ensure our AI/ML systems are maintainable and resilient.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Core Experience: 5 - 7+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong focus on AI/ML engineering.
• Engineering Foundations: Robust engineering design skills with expert proficiency in Python and/or Java/Scala. Deep understanding of computer science fundamentals like data structures, algorithms, and system design.
• AI/ML Foundations: Solid understanding of traditional machine learning algorithms (supervised, unsupervised, semi-supervised) and cutting edge genAI technologies. Hands-on experience with modern AI/ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX).
• Distributed Systems & Big Data: Proven experience with large-scale distributed data processing technologies such as Ray, Spark, or modern alternatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• AI/ML Infrastructure & Ops: Experience developing and maintaining large-scale ML infrastructure (services, pipelines, frameworks, and deployment tooling like Ray, Kubernetes, MLflow) is a plus
• AI-Assisted Engineering: Proven proficiency in leveraging advanced Generative AI and LLM assistants (e.g., Claude, Gemini, etc) as force-multipliers across the software development lifecycle with high quality always in mind.
• Soft Skills & Autonomy: Strong communication skills for requirement clarifications and cross-functional collaboration. Ability to lead with a high level of autonomy, driving critical initiatives from concept to production.
• Pay & Benefits

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $184,700 and $324,800, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.

Learn more about Apple Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.