Data Engineer, Apple Ads

Socket.dev; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Ads is building privacy‑focused data capabilities to deliver exceptional experiences for users and advertisers. We hire engineers with 1–4 years of experience to design scalable data pipelines, real‑time and batch processing, and ML components that respect privacy and scale with Apple's ecosystems.

You will collaborate with product managers and other engineers in an Agile environment, contributing to reliable systems, performance improvements, and cost‑efficient solutions while growing

Qualifications

• 1-4 years of industry experience building scalable data pipelines and machine learning systems, or other distributed software, at scale.
• Strong computer science and software engineering fundamentals.
• Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Rust, Python, Java, or Scala.
• Experience with distributed systems and data processing technologies (e.g. Spark, Kafka, Flink).
• Experience building and scaling systems on premise and in the cloud.
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and system design principles.
• Ability to communicate effectively with cross‑functional technical and non‑technical teams.
• Hands‑on experience using LLMs (e.g. Claude, Gemini) in daily engineering work — for code generation, review, debugging, test writing, agentic loops, and evaluation systems— to continually improve software engineering skills and velocity.
• Excellent collaborative skills.
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, or a related field

Responsibilities

• Engineer secure, scalable data and machine learning systems across real-time, near-real-time, and batch execution contexts using Spark, Kafka, Iceberg, and beyond
• Own the design and delivery of core components — from pipeline architecture to ML model development, training, and deployment — including support for privacy-preserving, mission-critical infrastructure
• Drive reliability, performance, and efficiency improvements across your systems, including schema changes, backfills, and the experimentation and testing infrastructure (e.g. A/B testing) needed to validate them
• Apply a strong understanding of the intersection between business, analytics, and engineering, with a proactive focus on reusable, efficient solutions
• Use LLMs and AI coding agents (e.g. Claude, Gemini) daily to accelerate implementation, testing, and debugging — continually validating every result for correctness, privacy, and cost
• Collaborate with a team of world‑class engineers and product managers; grow through code and design reviews, and mentor others as you gain seniority
• Contribute to on‑call, monitoring, and continuous reliability and efficiency improvements; more senior engineers help lead incident response and root‑cause analysis
• Work effectively in a rapidly changing, sprint‑based Agile environment, and contribute to a culture that emphasizes reliability, resiliency, extensibility, scalability, and productivity

Skills

Rust

Python

Java

Scala

Spark

Kafka

Flink

LLMs

Code review

Agile

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, or a related field

Tools

Iceberg

Claude

Gemini

Spark

Kafka

Job description

At Apple, we focus deeply on the customer experience. Apple Ads brings this same approach to advertising, helping people find exactly what they're looking for and helping advertisers grow their businesses. Our technology powers ads and sponsorships across Apple Services, including the App Store, Apple News, Apple Maps, MLS, and F1. Everything we do is designed for trust, connection, and impact: we respect user privacy, integrate advertising thoughtfully into the experience, and deliver value for advertisers of all sizes — from small app developers to big global brands. Because when advertising is done right, it benefits everyone.

You will join a team of world-class engineers with an appetite for applying leading-edge technologies to deliver extraordinary experiences to our customers, and collaborate closely with the business to deliver relevant data and insight that informs our strategy and decisions. You should have 1-4 years of experience in software engineering roles, ideally within the ads or media space. You will have a strong understanding of scalable approaches and thrive working in Agile environments. The ability to be a good, standout colleague under tight deadline constraints is key to success. We will calibrate the level and scope to your experience.

Description

At Apple Ads, we are building the next generation of privacy-focused advertising capabilities. As part of the data organization, we work at the cutting edge of data engineering, machine learning, and privacy at Apple's scale. We are constantly developing data products to provide amazing user experiences and to drive value for developers and publishers.

• Engineer secure, scalable data and machine learning systems across real-time, near-real-time, and batch execution contexts using Spark, Kafka, Iceberg, and beyond
• Own the design and delivery of core components — from pipeline architecture to ML model development, training, and deployment — including support for privacy-preserving, mission-critical infrastructure
• Drive reliability, performance, and efficiency improvements across your systems, including schema changes, backfills, and the experimentation and testing infrastructure (e.g. A/B testing) needed to validate them
• Apply a strong understanding of the intersection between business, analytics, and engineering, with a proactive focus on reusable, efficient solutions
• Use LLMs and AI coding agents (e.g. Claude, Gemini) daily to accelerate implementation, testing, and debugging — continually validating every result for correctness, privacy, and cost
• Collaborate with a team of world‑class engineers and product managers; grow through code and design reviews, and mentor others as you gain seniority
• Contribute to on‑call, monitoring, and continuous reliability and efficiency improvements; more senior engineers help lead incident response and root‑cause analysis
• Work effectively in a rapidly changing, sprint‑based Agile environment, and contribute to a culture that emphasizes reliability, resiliency, extensibility, scalability, and productivity

We are one team, nurturing each other's growth and supporting each other in delivering for our customers and Apple

Minimum Qualifications

• 1-4 years of industry experience building scalable data pipelines and machine learning systems, or other distributed software, at scale
• Strong computer science and software engineering fundamentals
• Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Rust, Python, Java, or Scala
• Experience with distributed systems and data processing technologies (e.g. Spark, Kafka, Flink)
• Experience building and scaling systems on premise and in the cloud
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and system design principles
• Ability to communicate effectively with cross‑functional technical and non‑technical teams
• Hands‑on experience using LLMs (e.g. Claude, Gemini) in daily engineering work — for code generation, review, debugging, test writing, agentic loops, and evaluation systems— to continually improve software engineering skills and velocity
• Excellent collaborative skills
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, or a related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with NoSQL datastores (e.g. Cassandra, Keyspaces, ElastiCache)
• Experience with lakehouse and Iceberg table formats
• Experience with anomaly detection
• Experience with A/B experimentation frameworks
• History of driving reliability, efficiency, or cost improvements, and mentoring other engineers
• Comfortable working in a rapidly changing environment with ambiguous requirements
• Prior experience in the advertising industry is a huge plus