AI Systems Engineer — On-Device ML & Performance

Apple Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 195,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Machine Learning System Software Engineer to advance the Apple Neural Engine on-device AI platforms across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.

You will design APIs for loading, scheduling, and executing models with a focus on performance and low power consumption. The role emphasizes collaboration with driver, firmware, and compiler teams, shaping runtime-to-silicon interfaces and ensuring scalable APIs for evolving hardware capabilities.

Qualifications

• BS and a minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience.
• Experience defining interfaces used by other teams or external developers, with attention to lifecycle, error handling, and forward compatibility.
• Deep proficiency in C and C++ in large, production system software.
• Understanding of runtime systems: process/thread models, memory management, IPC/RPC, and resource lifecycle.
• Understanding of software-hardware interfaces: registers, DMA, command queues, or similar accelerator interaction patterns.
• Experience shipping production system software.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement API's for Apple's Neural Engine - defining how clients load, compile, schedule and execute models on device.
• Architect APIs which provide client control of model lifecycle management, memory allocation strategies, multi-model scheduling, and concurrent execution — ensuring the runtime scales with new hardware capabilities.
• Collaborate deeply with driver, firmware and compiler teams to co-design the runtime-to-silicon interface, ensuring new hardware features are exposed with correct abstractions.
• Profile and optimize end-to-end inference paths, identifying bottlenecks in scheduling, compilation, and inference execution.
• Support clients in adopting APIs and ensuring efficient integration.

Skills

C/C++

Runtime systems

IPC/RPC

Memory management

Performance optimization

System software

Education

BS degree

Tools

TensorRT

ONNX Runtime

Metal

XLA

Swift/Rust

Job description

Apple Inc. is seeking a Machine Learning System Software Engineer to advance the Apple Neural Engine on-device AI platforms across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro.

You will design APIs for loading, scheduling, and executing models with a focus on performance and low power consumption. The role emphasizes collaboration with driver, firmware, and compiler teams, shaping runtime-to-silicon interfaces and ensuring scalable APIs for evolving hardware capabilities.