Lead ML Architect, Conversational Speech (On-Device)

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 263,000 - 394,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical and dental cover

Retirement benefits

Discounted products and free services

Tuition reimbursement

Relocation support

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Cupertino is seeking a Machine Learning Architect for Conversational Speech to shape the future of Apple’s AI-powered assistant.

You will define modeling directions for speech recognition, synthesis, dialog, and multimodal foundation models, while hands-on solving hard technical challenges with cross-functional teams. The role emphasizes on-device constraints, latency, and scalable architectures to deliver high-quality conversational experiences across Apple devices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of ML experience in speech or multimodal systems with leadership.
• Demonstrated expertise as a technical leader who defined modeling direction across teams.
• Deep hands-on proficiency in modern deep learning, including LLMs and end-to-end speech systems.
• Significant experience with multimodal LLMs, architecture design, training, adaptation, and deployment.
• Direct experience building speech-to-speech conversational systems with on-device constraints.
• Track record translating research into production-scale systems.
• Expert programming in Python and DL frameworks (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow).

Responsibilities

• Define modeling strategy and technical direction across the Speech organization, establishing a unified vision for speech technologies.
• Serve as the organization’s foremost modeling expert, guiding multiple teams on interconnected speech capabilities.
• Evaluate research and industry trends and translate them into actionable roadmaps.
• Champion production-readiness accounting for on-device constraints, latency, scalability, and robustness.
• Collaborate with Siri, Apple Intelligence, hardware, and platform teams to align AI investments.

Skills

Machine Learning

Speech

Multimodal

Leadership

Architect/Lead

On-device ML

Python

Deep Learning

End-to-end Speech Systems

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Machine Learning, or related field

Tools

Python

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

Job description

Apple Inc. in Cupertino is seeking a Machine Learning Architect for Conversational Speech to shape the future of Apple’s AI-powered assistant.

You will define modeling directions for speech recognition, synthesis, dialog, and multimodal foundation models, while hands-on solving hard technical challenges with cross-functional teams. The role emphasizes on-device constraints, latency, and scalable architectures to deliver high-quality conversational experiences across Apple devices.