Lab Systems Engineer, Silicon Bring-Up & Automation Platforms

Apple Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 325,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Retirement benefits

Employee stock programs

Tuition reimbursement

Discounted products and services

Job summary

Apple Inc. in San Francisco Bay Area invites applications for a Lab Systems Engineer to bring up Apple Silicon at the bench and build internal software platforms for hardware and lab teams.

You will deploy scalable data pipelines, automate lab environments (bare metal macOS, Docker, Kubernetes), and develop AI-assisted tooling to accelerate data analysis and validation across global labs.

Qualifications

• BS and 10+ years of relevant industry experience.
• MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field preferred with 6+ years of experience.
• Proven collaboration across teams with clear ownership and communication.
• Familiarity with databases (SQL/NoSQL), file systems, and object storage.
• Direct experience with silicon bring-up or hardware validation including register-level debug.
• Experience with Docker and deploying/operating Kubernetes-based infrastructure for lab or validation services.

Responsibilities

• Lead bring-up of new SoCs and boards from first power-on through validation sign-off, register-level debug, protocol analysis, and root-causing issues across hardware, software, and test infrastructure.
• Run validation test plans against design specs and triage failures at the bench with lab instrumentation (scopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers).
• Build and maintain internal tools, dashboards, and automation that give hardware and lab engineers visibility into lab state, device health, and validation progress.
• Develop shared instrumentation/automation libraries used across lab teams and APIs/data pipelines that tie lab instrumentation and validation tooling into a platform.
• Apply AI-assisted development to lab tooling, including plugins, custom skills, and agentic workflows.
• Deploy and operate the Kubernetes infrastructure these tools run on, reducing manual toil and improving observability across bring-up and lab automation workflows.

Skills

Python

Docker

Kubernetes

Hardware bring-up

Lab instrumentation

AI/ML tooling

Data pipelines

Debugging at bench

APIs

CI/CD

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

APIs

CI/CD

Job description

Lab Systems Engineer, Silicon Bring-Up & Automation Platforms

San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States Hardware

In this highly visible role, you will bring up and validate new Apple Silicon at the bench while building the internal software platforms the broader hardware and lab organization relies on daily. At Apple, we work every day to craft products that enrich people’s lives and as part of an extremely dynamic, forward-thinking team, you’ll have the rare opportunity to build nuanced tools that help delight millions of Apple’s customers. If you love debugging silicon that has never run before, tackling challenges no one has solved yet, and automating tasks that span multiple continents, building the tools that make everyone else’s debug faster, this is the role for you.

Description

In this role, you will bring up and validate new Apple Silicon at the bench, debugging silicon that has never run before and tackling hardware issues as they surface in the lab. Alongside this hands-on validation work, you'll develop methods to improve and automate the collection, storage, processing, and visualization of silicon validation data from labs worldwide. You’ll build and deploy scalable data pipelines using scheduling systems and design infrastructure to support distributed validation across bare metal macOS, Docker, and Kubernetes environments. You will also automate the setup of silicon validation environments and manage data migration across systems. A part of the role includes instrument tracking and network automation—integrating with lab hardware to configure devices, manage network environments, monitor instrument status, and collect validation data securely and at scale. For efficient and insightful data analytics, you’ll build AI/ML based tools that accelerate data analysis and integrate with existing data analysis platforms. This includes tracking power utilization of lab equipment, identifying patterns in usage, and optimizing for future demand through predictive modeling. This work involves close collaboration with hardware, software, and infrastructure teams to enable rapid data exploration, debug large-scale systems, and implement alerting mechanisms that enhance observability and transparency across automation workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead bring-up of new SoCs and boards from first power-on through validation sign-off, register-level debug, protocol analysis, and root-causing issues across hardware, software, and test infrastructure
• Run validation test plans against design specs and triage failures at the bench with lab instrumentation (scopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers), collaborating with design teams to drive issues through to closure
• Build and maintain internal tools, dashboards, and automation that give hardware and lab engineers visibility into lab state, device health, and validation progress
• Develop shared instrumentation/automation libraries used across lab teams, and APIs/data pipelines that tie lab instrumentation and validation tooling into a coherent platform
• Apply AI-assisted development to lab tooling, including plugins, custom skills, and agentic workflows
• Deploy and operate the Kubernetes infrastructure these tools run on, working closely with hardware, software, and lab infrastructure teams to reduce manual toil and improve observability across bring-up and lab automation workflows

Minimum Qualifications

• BS and 10+ years of relevant industry experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field with 6+ years of experience
• Strong Python fundamentals, proven ability to build production-quality internal tools, APIs, and services
• Proven collaborator across teams, with clarity, ownership, and timely communication
• Familiarity with databases (SQL/NoSQL), file systems, and object storage
• Direct experience with silicon bring-up or hardware validation, including register-level debug
• Experience with Docker and deploying/operating Kubernetes-based infrastructure for lab or validation services, CI/CD pipelines and version control systems
• Hands-on experience with lab/test instrumentation (scopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers) and instrument automation
• Experience automating network configuration and diagnostics for lab environments
• Experience maintaining shared internal instrumentation/automation libraries
• Experience with device/fleet monitoring systems (topology, MAC/port tracking, calibration tracking)
• Experience with AI-assisted development, plugins, custom skills/agents, or agentic workflows
• Experience developing, deploying, and maintaining applied ML or statistical modeling pipelines to analyze lab and system data at scale
• Experience implementing alerting and monitoring systems for workflow health and failure detection
• Prior experience publishing papers, posters, or other technical work in relevant conferences or venues

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.
• 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.

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Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.