Senior ML Engineer — Navigation Intelligence & On-Device Maps

Apple Inc.; Cupertino, Northern (CA, KY); On-site; USD 185,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California is seeking a Senior Software Engineer specializing in Navigation Intelligence and Applied ML to advance both on-device and backend ML systems powering Apple Maps.

You will design, implement, and deploy ML models, collaborating across design, routing, data science, and product teams to deliver smarter, contextual navigation experiences while upholding Apple's privacy-first standards for billions of users.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, or related field with strong industry experience building large-scale, production-grade ML applications.
• Proven experience applying applied Machine Learning to solve complex, customer-facing technical problems (e.g., personalization, recommendation, contextual AI, or sequence modeling).
• Ability to write complex, highly-performant, clean, and maintainable solutions in C++.
• Solid understanding of algorithms, data structures, and software architecture.
• Strong problem-solving skills and comfort working with ambiguity, evolving requirements, and open-ended product questions.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, possessing the ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a distributed, multi-functional team environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain navigation features and services in Apple Maps.
• Design, develop, and deploy machine learning models and intelligent features that power the navigation experience in Apple Maps.
• Explore and apply a range of technical approaches to personalize the navigation journey and adapt guidance to user context and real-time conditions.
• Write complex, highly-performant, and reliable production code (primarily in C++) to integrate ML models into high-scale backend services and on-device environments.
• Collaborate with design, product, and other engineering teams to translate customer empathy into technical ML solutions.
• Participate in design and code reviews, contribute to architectural decisions, and build data pipelines for continuous model evaluation and improvement.
• Influence future product direction for navigation intelligence with technical expertise, mentorship, and customer-focused thinking.

Skills

C++

Machine learning

Algorithms

Communication

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS/ML/Math

Tools

Python

ML frameworks

Kubernetes

Job description

Apple Inc. in Cupertino, California is seeking a Senior Software Engineer specializing in Navigation Intelligence and Applied ML to advance both on-device and backend ML systems powering Apple Maps.

You will design, implement, and deploy ML models, collaborating across design, routing, data science, and product teams to deliver smarter, contextual navigation experiences while upholding Apple's privacy-first standards for billions of users.