Senior Engineering Program Manager - AI/ML, Apple Services Engineering

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 176,000 - 312,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental coverage

Retirement benefits

Discounted products and services

Education reimbursement

Bonuses or commissions

Relocation

Job summary

Apple seeks a seasoned program manager to drive end-to-end delivery of large-scale ML and GenAI initiatives within Apple Media Products. You will lead strategic planning, define scope, manage timelines, and allocate resources while collaborating with Design, Engineering, Data Science, QA, and Legal.

You will translate vision into actionable roadmaps, coordinate across ML, Data, Platform, and SRE teams, track milestones, communicate status to leaders, and continuously improve processes to ship

Qualifications

• 5+ years of program management experience across software and ML projects.
• Experience managing end-to-end ML projects across data, modeling, deployment, and monitoring.
• BA/BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Drive technical scoping, effort estimation, and resource allocation discussions with engineering, research, and cross-functional teams to ensure realistic roadmaps.
• Translate high-level App Store AI/ML Search product vision and research goals into detailed engineering roadmaps and technical execution plans.
• Drive end-to-end engineering execution across ML, Data, Platform, and SRE teams; track milestones and facilitate decision-making.
• Identify and mitigate technical blockers, architectural challenges, and inter-team dependencies in Gen AI/ML development; develop contingency plans.
• Facilitate clear technical communication across Product, Research, Privacy, Legal, and Leadership; articulate progress and trade-offs.

Skills

Program management

ML lifecycle experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Education

BA/BS in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Cupertino, California, United States Software and Services

Apple Services Engineering (ASE) is an exciting & dynamic organization with customers in 155 countries, producing innovative products in a fast-growing marketplace for music, video, podcasts, books - and, of course, apps. This is a hands‑on position where you will be involved in requirements analysis, functional and technical design discussions, testing, proof‑of‑concept, working with partners, and more. This is not a task‑based job; you will be responsible for successful outcomes and delivery. Strong fundamentals are a requirement but you have to have more. You take responsibility; you feel a personal stake in the products you ship; you communicate responsibilities and scope clearly; you value integrity; you know how things work; you work for the success of the entire team; you thrive in uncertainty and strive to bring order to it; you have deep wisdom & judgement; you keep your eye on the ball; you build strong relationships; you are constantly looking to improve yourself and your team; you’re prescient; and you have shipped products which millions of customers have used.

Description

Drive the end‑to‑end delivery of large-scale, cross‑functional Machine Learning (ML) and Generative AI (GenAI) programs and features within Apple Media Products (AMP).Lead the strategic planning, execution, and delivery of multiple concurrent ML/GenAI features, encompassing scope definition, requirements gathering, timeline management, and resource allocation.Cultivate strong collaborative relationships with cross‑functional partners (Design, Engineering, Data Science, QA, Legal, Finance, Privacy, Anti‑Fraud, Business Operations) to define product roadmaps and manage the feature intake pipeline.Spearhead initiatives to optimize feature development and execution processes within the Apple Media Products organization, driving continuous improvement.Contribute to the overall ML/GenAI strategy for AMP, effectively communicating program status, risks, and mitigation plans to stakeholders at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Drive technical scoping, effort estimation, and resource allocation discussions with engineering, research, and cross‑functional teams to ensure realistic and achievable roadmaps..
• Translate high‑level App Store AI/ML Search product vision and research goals into detailed, actionable engineering roadmaps and technical execution plans. This involves defining technical scope, breaking down complex initiatives into manageable phases, identifying key engineering deliverables, and ensuring alignment across stakeholders including Product, Engineering, Data Engineering, Platform teams and more.
• Drive the end‑to‑end engineering execution of project initiatives. This includes orchestrating efforts across specialized engineering teams (ML, Data, Platform, SRE), tracking progress against technical milestones, facilitating technical decision‑making, coordinating launch and managing post launch improvements.
• Proactively identify, analyze, and mitigate technical blockers, architectural challenges, and inter‑team dependencies inherent in Gen AI/ML development (e.g., data quality issues, compute resource contention, model scalability, integration complexities). Develop contingency plans and drive resolution to keep engineering programs on track.
• Facilitate clear, concise, and effective technical communication across diverse engineering teams and with relevant stakeholders (Product, Research, Privacy, Legal and Leadership). Articulate complex engineering progress, technical trade‑offs, challenges, and proposed solutions, ensuring alignment, informed decision‑making, and transparency throughout the program lifecycle.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of program management experience, including experience taking features through the complete software development and ML life cycle with multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience managing end‑to‑end Machine Learning projects. This includes understanding the full ML lifecycle from data acquisition, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and iterative improvement.
• BA/BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or similar field or relevant industry experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience to execute cross‑functional and cross‑organization project management - ability to work across diverse teams, navigate organizational landscape, build relationships and drive project delivery.
• Ability to understand and extract action plans from complex technical discussions & translate into succinct messaging for multi‑functional and executive status reporting.
• Built global products by collaborating across Product, Engineering, Data Sciences, Analytics, Design and other key partners.
• Consistent track record of shipping complex customer‑facing and backend engineering projects under demanding timelines.
• Strong facilitation skills (requirements sessions, design meetings, progress and status meetings).
• Best‑in‑class communication and presentation skills (written & verbal) to all levels of an organization.
• Be able to work with ambiguity, organize & create order.

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 $175,500 and $311,700, 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.

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• retirement benefits
• a range of discounted products and free services
• for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition
• discretionary bonuses or commission payments
• relocation

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.