AIML - Machine Learning Research

Apple Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 142,300 - 263,300; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Seattle, Washington, is seeking a researcher to advance LLM-based question answering and Apple Intelligence features, delivering concise, grounded information to users across Apple devices.

You will design reinforcement learning post-training methods, train agents, and collaborate with researchers to productionize systems that tackle open-domain QA and summarization using diverse data sources.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of ML experience in search, NLP/understanding and Conversational AI.
• Experience with LLM post-training including SFT, RLHF, RLAIF, reward modeling, CoT, agentic LLM.
• Hands-on RL pipelines and training agents in simulation or real environments.
• Researcher in ML areas including NLP or speech.
• Growth mindset and ability to learn new technologies.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop advanced RL technologies in post-training of generative models and deliver end-user experiences.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives with research, engineering and production teams to translate theory into deployable systems.
• Develop novel and cutting-edge RL algorithms and improve existing ones.
• Stay updated with RL research and integrate best practices into team workflow.
• Work on end-to-end ML lifecycle: design, data collection, training, evaluation and deployment.

Skills

ML experience

NLP/LLM research

RL pipelines

Researcher in ML

Growth mindset

Education

MS/PhD in CS/ML RL

Tools

SFT

RLHF

RLAIF

Chain-of-thought

Job description

Seattle, Washington, United States Machine Learning and AI

Apple is where individual imaginations gather together, committing to the values that lead to great work. Every new product we build, service we create, or Apple Store experience we deliver is the result of us strengthening each other’s ideas. That happens because every one of us believes that we can make something wonderful and share it with the world, changing lives for the better! In this organization, we work hard to bring the best user experiences powered by Apple Intelligence. Our team is instrumental in powering and enhancing features across a range of Apple products, including Siri, Spotlight, Safari, Messages, and more. We are an Applied ML team pushing the limits of question answering, assistant response ranking, summarization, and search technologies, while also responsible for a production service. As part of this group, you will be doing large scale machine learning and deep learning research and development to improve Open Domain Question Answering (using both structured knowledge graph data and unstructured web data) and Summarization as well as developing fundamental building blocks needed for Artificial Intelligence. This involves developing sophisticated machine learning and large language models (LLMs) to understand user queries, retrieve and rank relevant documents across multiple sources and synthesize information across documents to provide user with a direct answer that best satisfies their intent and information seeking needs. Additionally, you will research and develop the state‑of‑the‑art LLMs for summarizing personal data such as emails, messages, and notifications. You will also work with researchers and data scientists to develop, fine‑tune, and evaluate domain specific Large Language Models for various tasks and applications in Apple’s AI powered products and conduct applied research to transfer the cutting edge research in generative AI to production ready technologies.

Description

In this role, you will work on LLM based question answering and Apple Intelligence features to provide concise, accurate, and grounded information to users to help them complete their tasks quickly on Apple devices. Your core responsibilities will include:

• Designing and developing advanced Reinforcement Learning technologies in the post‑training of generative model, and delivering the end‑user experience.
• Driving cross‑functional technical initiatives, collaborating with research, engineering and production teams to translate theoretical advances into deployable systems.
• Developing novel and cutting‑edge RL algorithms and improving existing ones.
• Staying up to date with the latest RL research and integrating best practices into the team's workflow.
• Working on the end‑to‑end ML lifecycle: algorithm design and implementation, data collection, model training, evaluation, and deployment.

Minimum Qualifications

• 1+ years of ML experience in search, natural language processing/understanding. Conversational AI.
• Proven experience for LLM post training, including but not limited to SFT, RLHF, RLAIF, Reward Modeling, Chain‑of‑thought, agentic LLM.
• Hands‑on experience building RL pipelines and training agents in simulation or real‑world environments.
• Experienced researcher in areas of machine learning, including natural language or speech.
• Growth mindset and ability to learn new technologies.
• MS or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning with a specialty in reinforcement learning, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise in reinforcement learning‑based post‑training on LLM models, reward modeling, RLHF, RLAIF, Chain‑of‑thought, and agentic AI R&D.
• Experienced researcher with publications in areas of machine learning, including natural language processing.
• Deep understanding of cutting edge RL algorithms and large language model.
• Strong product intuition and ownership.

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 $142,300 and $263,300, 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.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant.

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace.

Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants.

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.