Senior iOS App Development Engineer - Services Special Project

Apple; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a senior iOS frameworks engineer to design on-device systems powering Generative AI experiences across Apple platforms. You will own foundational frameworks, daemons, and APIs that run beneath the UI, enabling scalable, reliable features.

The role emphasizes cross-team collaboration, performance tuning, energy efficiency, CloudKit data synchronization, and robust telemetry. You will mentor engineers and help shape technical direction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• 6+ years of software engineering experience on client-side or platform-level iOS systems.
• Strong proficiency in Swift and Objective-C, with experience shipping production-quality frameworks, daemons, or system APIs.
• Strong systems programming expertise, including concurrency, multithreading, memory management, and performance tuning.
• Understanding of systems-level concepts such as inter-process communication (XPC), process lifecycle management, and resource constraints.
• Experience integrating client applications with RESTful APIs and cloud services.
• Proficiency with development tools such as Xcode, LLDB, Instruments, and Git.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to collaborate across a diversity of backgrounds and experiences.
• Highly organized, maintaining patience and composure to effectively operate within ambiguity.
• Experience with CloudKit or similar distributed data synchronization technologies.
• Experience designing and delivering libraries, frameworks, or public/internal APIs.
• Strong debugging skills across the OS stack - frameworks, daemons, and supporting services.
• Experience optimizing software for performance, energy efficiency, and resource constraints on mobile platforms.
• Familiarity with metrics and telemetry frameworks, including instrumentation, data collection pipelines, and analytics.
• Experience with AI/ML principles or developing software that interfaces with large language models.
• Experience with SQL and database technologies.
• Track record of mentoring engineers and driving technical direction within a team.

Responsibilities

• Designing and implementing frameworks, daemons, and system services that form the backbone of Services experiences on Apple platforms
• Building efficient inter-process communication layers using XPC to enable secure, performant data exchange between system components
• Architecting and implementing CloudKit-based data synchronization to deliver seamless cross-device experiences
• Designing robust interfaces to REST endpoints and backend services, ensuring reliability and graceful degradation
• Building and maintaining metrics and telemetry frameworks to measure feature health, performance, and user engagement
• Driving architectural decisions across the team, participating in peer review of architecture, API design, and individual software changes
• Mentoring and supporting other engineers on the team, raising the bar for engineering quality and technical depth

Skills

Swift

Objective-C

Concurrency

Multithreading

Memory management

Inter-process communication (XPC)

REST APIs

Cloud services

Git

Xcode

LLDB

Instruments

Public/internal APIs

Debugging

Performance optimization

SQL/Databases

AI/ML principles

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field

Tools

Xcode

LLDB

Instruments

Git

Job description

At Apple, we build products and services that enrich the everyday lives of millions of people around the world. Our Services team is at the forefront of delivering intelligent, delightful experiences powered by Generative AI. We are looking for a senior iOS frameworks engineer to design and build the foundational on-device systems that power features across Apple's services ecosystem — from daemons and frameworks to cloud synchronization and metrics infrastructure.

As a senior member of the Services engineering team, you will own critical on-device framework and daemon components that enable Generative AI experiences across Apple platforms. This role is focused on platform-level engineering ie: building the systems, services, and infrastructure that sit beneath the UI layer and power intelligent features at scale.

Responsibilities

• Designing and implementing frameworks, daemons, and system services that form the backbone of Services experiences on Apple platforms
• Building efficient inter-process communication layers using XPC to enable secure, performant data exchange between system components
• Architecting and implementing CloudKit-based data synchronization to deliver seamless cross-device experiences
• Designing robust interfaces to REST endpoints and backend services, ensuring reliability and graceful degradation
• Building and maintaining metrics and telemetry frameworks to measure feature health, performance, and user engagement
• Driving architectural decisions across the team, participating in peer review of architecture, API design, and individual software changes
• Mentoring and supporting other engineers on the team, raising the bar for engineering quality and technical depth

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
• 6+ years of software engineering experience on client-side or platform-level iOS systems
• Strong proficiency in Swift and Objective-C, with experience shipping production-quality frameworks, daemons, or system APIs
• Strong systems programming expertise, including concurrency, multithreading, memory management, and performance tuning
• Understanding of systems-level concepts such as inter-process communication (XPC), process lifecycle management, and resource constraints
• Experience integrating client applications with RESTful APIs and cloud services
• Proficiency with development tools such as Xcode, LLDB, Instruments, and Git
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to collaborate across a diversity of backgrounds and experiences
• Highly organized, maintaining patience and composure to effectively operate within ambiguity
• Experience with CloudKit or similar distributed data synchronization technologies
• Experience designing and delivering libraries, frameworks, or public/internal APIs
• Strong debugging skills across the OS stack - frameworks, daemons, and supporting services
• Experience optimizing software for performance, energy efficiency, and resource constraints on mobile platforms
• Familiarity with metrics and telemetry frameworks, including instrumentation, data collection pipelines, and analytics
• Experience with AI/ML principles or developing software that interfaces with large language models
• Experience with SQL and database technologies
• Track record of mentoring engineers and driving technical direction within a team