Machine Learning Research Engineer

Apple, Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 142,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a Machine Learning Research Engineer in Seattle to design and advance multi-modal Human Sensing technologies. You will build state-of-the-art visual recognition systems and foundation models for facial and full-body perception that power Camera, Photos, and Vision features across Apple platforms.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, curate data, and contribute to on-device ML initiatives while staying current with the latest advances in ML, CV, and NLP.

Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Proven track record of training, fine-tuning and evaluating deep learning models for vision tasks.
• Publications, patents, or impactful software demonstrating research impact.
• Proficient in Python, PyTorch or equivalent deep learning frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Designing, implementing, and deploying state-of-the-art visual recognition systems.
• Building foundation models for facial and full-body perception.
• Driving data quality excellence through dataset curation, validation, and generation to support model development.
• Building tools and frameworks for failure analysis, identifying edge cases, and driving model improvement.
• Interacting with cross-functional stakeholders to gather product requirements and translate into ML plans.
• Communicating results and insights to partners and senior leaders with actionable recommendations.
• Staying current with trends in ML, multi-modal models, CV and NLP.
• Contributing to Apple's ML community by sharing research ideas and improving infrastructure.

Skills

CV/ML research

Publications/impact

Education

Master's or PhD in CS/CE

Tools

PyTorch

Python

Job description

Seattle, Washington, United States Machine Learning and AI

The Human and Object Understanding team (HOUr) in the Intelligent System Experience (ISE) organization is looking for Research Engineers with a strong foundation in Machine Learning and Computer Vision to develop the next generation of multi-modal Human Sensing technologies. You will be part of a fast-paced, impact-driven Applied Research organization building foundation models for facial and full-body perception and working on cutting-edge machine learning that is at the heart of the most loved features on Apple platforms including Apple Intelligence, Camera, Photos, Visual Intelligence, etc.

Description

As a Machine Learning Research Engineer, you will be responsible for designing and developing cutting-edge AI/ML models for Human Sensing, with a focus on building robust cross-domain identity recognition systems. Multi-modal Human Sensing is a foundational capability that powers intelligent experiences based on key human traits such as identity, expression, clothing, action, gesture, gaze and human-object interaction. Major Apple Intelligence experiences such as personalized Natural Language Search, Memories Creation, as well as personalized Image Generation are powered by our ability to learn robust representations of visual human traits. Efficient real-time visual human sensing powers flagship Photography experiences such as Cinematic mode and Photographic Styles, communication experiences such as Center Stage, and paves the way for more natural human-device interactions, e.g., with the DockKit framework.

Responsibilities

• Designing, implementing, and deploying state-of-the-art visual recognition systems.
• Building foundation models for facial and full-body perception.
• Driving data quality excellence through strategic dataset curation, validation, and generation to support world-class model development.
• Building tools and frameworks for systematic failure analysis, identifying edge cases, and driving continuous model improvement.
• Directly interacting with all cross-functional stakeholders to gather product requirements and translating these into actionable plans for ML research and development.
• Effectively communicating results and insights to partners and senior leaders, providing clear and actionable recommendations.
• Staying current with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in machine learning, multi-modal foundation models, computer vision and natural language understanding.
• Actively contributing to Apple's ML community by disseminating research ideas and results, enhancing shared infrastructure, and mentoring fellow practitioners.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related fields, or equivalent professional experience in Computer Vision (CV) and Machine Learning (ML) research and development.
• Proven track record of training, fine-tuning and evaluating deep learning models for vision tasks using modern ML architectures.
• Background in research and innovation, demonstrated through publications in top-tier journals or conferences, patents, or impactful software developments.
• Proficient in Python, PyTorch or equivalent deep learning frameworks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expert-level knowledge of state-of-the-art methods in face recognition or other facial analysis and biometric systems.
• Hands-on experience training and scaling multi-modal large language models (LLMs) or large-scale vision-language models (VLMs)
• Experience with on-device ML, model optimization (knowledge distillation, quantization, pruning), or production-grade ML pipelines.

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.