Principal Applied Research Engineer / Scientist

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company is looking for a Principal Applied Research Engineer / Scientist to lead machine learning initiatives. The role involves designing ML models, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and pushing the boundaries of AI technology, contributing significantly to innovative product development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field.
• Strong programming skills and experience in machine learning development.
• Proven experience advancing machine learning in product development.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and implement production-ready ML models.
• Drive data generation and evaluation efforts for ML systems.
• Prototype AI solutions that solve real-world problems.

Skills

Programming

Machine Learning Development

Rapid Prototyping

Communication of Technical Concepts

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Experience in ML/AI

Job description

Principal Applied Research Engineer / Scientist

Cupertino, California, United States Machine Learning and AI

Description

In this role, you will be responsible for the entire ML development lifecycle,working with cross-functional teams to bring innovative AI technologies intoreality. You'll design high-performance ML models, create and influence MLtooling and infrastructure, drive evaluation efforts, and implement modelinference solutions.The team values rapid iteration, based on bringing models into reality sostakeholders can understand cutting-edge technology and research. You'llcollaborate with hardware, software, and design teams across Apple, bothrepresenting the technology and implementing complete engineering solutionsready for product development.This unique opportunity places you at the forefront of innovation, working onprojects that have the potential to redefine user experiences and technologicalcapabilities at a company-wide level. Each team member brings unique expertisefrom their work on transformative industry projects, contributing to anenvironment that consistently pushes the boundaries of what's possible with AIand machine learning.KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:- Design, build, and implement production-ready ML models and infrastructure inpartnership with designers, software/hardware engineers, and applied R&Dteams- Drive data generation, curation, and evaluation efforts for ML systems- Develop and optimize model inference solutions- Rapidly prototype AI solutions that solve real-world problems- Communicate and advocate for novel research directions to product-orientedleadership- Influence modeling architecture decisions and translate research innovationsinto practical implementations- Engage with diverse teams across Apple to represent AI technology andimplement it into prototypes

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related technical
• field, or equivalent practical experience
• Proven experience advancing the state of the art of machine learning through
• hands-on work in product development, prototyping, or research environments
• Strong programming skills with experience in machine learning development
• Understanding of transformer-based models and their applications in product
• development
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Track record of rapid prototyping in ML/AI contexts

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep technical expertise in transformer-based large language models (LLMs)
• and multi-modal foundation models that integrate text, visual, and audio
• encoders with cross-modal attention mechanisms
• Experience across areas such as pre-training, fine-tuning, performance
• optimization, and safety alignment
• Expertise in designing and implementing AI agents capable of complex
• reasoning, task planning, and autonomous decision-making in diverse
• Forward-thinking creativity and curiosity about shaping AI capabilities into
• compelling product experiences that deliver genuine user value
• Demonstrated ability to influence modeling architecture decisions and translate
• research innovations into practical, product-ready implementations
• Strong collaborative skills with experience effectively communicating and
• advocating for novel research directions to product-oriented leadership

This posting is not for a specific job opening and by submitting your resume you are expressing interest in being contacted about this type of role at Apple in the future.

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 .