Music Content Operations AIML Program Lead

Apple Inc.; Cupertino, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 165,000 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Music Content Operations AIML Program Lead in Cupertino to scale curation through models, agents, and automation. You will partner with Engineering and Data Science to define requirements, build agents, and productionize agentic systems within existing workflows.

You’ll ensure human-in-the-loop reviews when appropriate and drive ROI through cross-functional collaboration. The role requires deep technical fluency with operations, AI/ML, and data pipelines, plus the ability

Qualifications

• 5+ years in operations, program management, or technical product roles with exposure to AI/ML-driven workflows.
• Experience translating operational problems into ML requirements and working with data scientists/engineers.
• Exposure to LLM-based workflows, prompt evaluation, or agentic automation in content moderation or operations.
• Understanding of content classification and content-risk tradeoffs for human review.
• Proven ability to lead multiple concurrent workstreams with on-time delivery.

Responsibilities

• Own strategy and execution plan to scale curation through models, agents, and automation.
• Partner with Engineering and Data Science to develop agents for day-to-day curation work, from requirements to production rollout.
• Define infrastructure to support and orchestrate agents within existing workflows.
• Determine future operating model for when agents handle work autonomously vs. human review.
• Translate challenges into actionable specs for engineering/data science teams.
• Lead design reviews and evaluation frameworks for AI/ML and agentic solutions.
• Develop human-in-the-loop tooling to surface agent/model outputs for reviewers.
• Communicate progress, tradeoffs, and recommendations to senior leadership.

Skills

AI/ML workflows

Operations program management

Human-in-the-loop

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

System design thinking

MLOps understanding

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business/Economics, or equivalent experience

Tools

SQL

Data pipelines

LLM tooling

Job description

Music Content Operations AIML Program Lead

Cupertino, California, United States Machine Learning and AI

A job at Apple is unlike any other you've had. You'll be challenged. You'll be inspired. And you'll be proud.Apple Music is looking for a Music Content Operations AIML Program Lead to help drive our strategic initiative to scale music content operations through models, agents, and automation. You'll lead the transition of music curation from a primarily manual operation toward a hybrid system where agents handle day-to-day work and human expertise is focused where it matters most — high-priority, high-risk, and quality-critical decisions. This is a full-time individual contributor role on our Content Operations team, reporting into Music Content Operations leadership.Sitting at the intersection of operations and advanced technology, you'll serve as the technical liaison between our operational workflows and the data science and engineering teams building the models, tools, and agentic systems that scale this work far beyond what manual review can achieve alone. You'll partner with engineering to develop agents, help establish the key infrastructure to support and integrate them, and define how humans stay in the loop as that infrastructure matures. You'll translate messy operational reality — everything from track-level metadata quirks to editorial judgment calls — into crisp technical requirements, evaluate the solutions that come back, and decide what ships.

Description

Own the strategy and execution plan to scale curation through models, agents, and automation — sequencing workstreams by impact and driving them from concept to production. Partner with Engineering and Data Science to develop agents that take on day-to-day curation work, from defining requirements through evaluation and production rollout. Help establish the key infrastructure to support, integrate, and orchestrate agents over time — shaping how agentic systems plug into existing curation workflows and data. Define the future operating model for curation — determining where agents handle work autonomously and where humans stay in the loop for high-priority, high-risk, or quality-assessment cases, including review of agent output. Translate operational challenges into clear, actionable specifications that engineering and data science teams can execute against. Break down ambiguous problems into well-scoped, prioritized workstreams, sequenced by impact. Start with the highest-leverage slice; iterate from there. Evaluate technical proposals and model outputs — participate in design reviews and build eval frameworks (golden sets, quality metrics, error analysis, human-in-the-loop feedback) to judge whether AI/ML and agentic solutions are ready for production. Design and iterate on human-in-the-loop tooling that surfaces agent and model outputs (confidence scores, candidate matches, suggested labels, risk signals) so reviewers can validate high-stakes decisions with speed and accuracy. Run ROI and impact analyses to distinguish short-term tactical wins from long-term structural solutions, and to prioritize where automation delivers the most leverage. Communicate upward — build clear, compelling narratives and decks, and present progress, tradeoffs, and recommendations to senior leadership. Partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Data Science, Product, Editorial, Analytics, and peer Operations teams (including Artist Curation, Shazam Operations, Partner Operations, and Data Strategy) to surface interdependencies and align priorities.

Responsibilities

• The right person for this role is a rare combination of technically fluent and deeply detail-oriented — someone who thinks in systems, moves with urgency, and knows how to get things done across complex, cross-functional environments.
• You're energized by ambiguity. Apple is known for operating at the edge of what's defined, and you know how to navigate without a map — making progress while the picture is still forming.
• You prioritize ruthlessly. You instinctively ask, "What's the highest-impact thing I could solve first?" before touching anything else.
• You're comfortable holding a multi-year vision while executing this week's priorities.
• You're an independent operator who moves forward with light direction but knows when to pull others in.
• You have exceptional attention to detail — the kind that catches metadata anomalies, mislabeled tracks, or subtle content-risk signals others miss.
• You communicate precisely and persuasively, in writing, in decks, and in the room with leadership.
• You have technical fluency — comfortable discussing system design, data pipelines, MLOps, agentic architectures, and model evaluation, and the real-world challenges of deploying AI/ML solutions, without needing to be the one writing the code.
• You have a tinkerer's mentality. You're not afraid to try things, fail quickly, and pivot. You'd rather ship a rough prototype this week and learn from it than design the perfect solution for three months.
• You lead through influence. You build trust across organizational boundaries and with vendor partners, and get things done without relying on direct reporting lines.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years in operations, program management, or technical product roles with meaningful exposure to AI/ML-driven workflows.
• Demonstrated experience translating operational or product problems into ML requirements and working directly with data scientists and engineers through model development cycles.
• Exposure to LLM-based workflows, prompt evaluation, or agentic automation — particularly applied to content moderation, classification, or operational workflows.
• Conceptual familiarity with content classification and content-risk tradeoffs, sufficient to judge where human review is warranted.
• Demonstrated track record of managing multiple concurrent workstreams with consistent on-time delivery and proactive stakeholder communication.
• Experience evaluating model outputs — designing eval sets, quality metrics, error analysis, and human feedback loops.
• Experience designing or specifying review/annotation tooling that surfaces AI inputs to human reviewers.
• Conceptual understanding of core analytics principles (sampling, hypothesis testing, statistical measurement).
• Proven ability to produce executive-ready written narratives and presentations.
• Track record of leading ambiguous initiatives end-to-end with minimal direction.
• Direct experience handling sensitive and confidential information with integrity and discretion
• Ability to be onsite; this role is an in-person, onsite position
• Available to work some nights and weekends as needed
• Up to 15%+ travel required; both domestic and international

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the music industry or with music metadata, catalogs, rights data, genre taxonomies, or editorial/streaming products.
• Hands-on experience building or deploying agentic systems in production.
• Experience collaborating with international stakeholders.
• Comfort querying data (SQL or similar) to investigate catalog issues independently.
• A genuine passion for music and curiosity about the systems that power the modern music industry.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business/Economics, or equivalent experience.

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 $164,500 and $247,400, 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

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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.