Software Development Engineering Manager

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 141,000 - 188,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking an experienced Software Development Engineering Manager to lead the distributed systems powering Apple Store Online. You will drive technical strategy while remaining deeply involved in architecture, design, and execution.

You will work closely with product teams to translate customer needs into robust, extensible services that scale to millions of interactions daily, while mentoring a high-performing team of engineers.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of backend engineering experience in production environments.
• Proficiency in Java with strong OO design for scalable systems.
• Experience with distributed systems and microservices; strong testing practices (unit & integration).

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of secure, high-scale distributed systems powering Apple Store Online.
• Partner with product managers and designers to shape roadmaps and co-own outcomes.
• Stay hands-on with system architecture, code reviews, and debugging; balance coding with leadership.
• Drive engineering excellence through API design, observability, CI/CD, and secure-by-design development.
• Hire, coach, and develop engineers; drive career growth and code quality.

Skills

Backend engineering

Java

Distributed systems

Testing (unit & integration)

Code reviews

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/Math or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Observability tools

Job description

Software Development Engineering Manager

Singapore, Singapore Software and Services

We're a diverse collection of thinkers and doers, continually reimagining our products, systems, and practices to help people do what they love in new ways. This is a deeply collaborative place, where everything we create is the result of people in different roles and teams working together to make each other's ideas stronger. That same passion for innovation that goes into our products also applies to our practices, strengthening our commitment to leave the world better than we found it.Today, the Apple Online Store provides one of the best multichannel commerce experiences in the world, and operates in 37 countries world-wide.At the Apple Store Online (ASO), its Engineering team is responsible for the global eCommerce platform that serves millions of customers around the world. We are a team of highly skilled Engineering Managers, Engineers, Analysts and Project Managers based in Singapore, London, & Cupertino.As a Engineering Manager on this team, you will lead a group of engineers responsible for systems that must be reliable, secure, and accurate at a global scale. You will bring deep hands-on engineering expertise alongside strong people leadership, driving technical strategy while staying closely engaged in architecture, design, and execution.

Description

You will lead a team of engineers building the distributed systems and services that power Apple Store Online. The services your team builds must be reliable, secure, and scalable to support millions of customer interactions every day. This is a hands-on technical leadership role that demands deep expertise in building distributed & highly secure systems at scale, paired with the ability to inspire a team and shape a long-term technical vision. The ideal candidate will be a team player with a forward thinking mindset, ability and confidence to challenge the status quo to define future visionsYou will work in close partnership with product teams to translate customer and business needs into systems that are robust, extensible, and built to last. Your ability to bridge the gap between how engineering decisions shape the customer journey will be central to how you lead and influence.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of secure, high-scale distributed systems that power Apple Store Online, with an emphasis on reliability, correctness, and performance
• Partner deeply with product managers and designers to shape roadmaps, surface technical constraints early, and co-own outcomes - ensuring engineering and product move as one team.
• Stay hands-on with system architecture, code reviews, and technical problem-solving, serving as a credible, trusted technical voice for your team and partners. Comfortable splitting time between hands-on coding and team leadership responsibilities. Ability to jump into debugging sessions and help unblock team members.
• Drive engineering excellence through strong practices in API design, service observability, automated testing, CI/CD, and secure-by-design development.
• Manage scope, risk, and delivery across multiple concurrent projects with clear communication to stakeholders at all levels.
• Hire, develop, and retain a high-performing team of engineers with a focus on technical growth and code quality; invest meaningfully in each person's growth through regular 1:1s, coaching, and clear career development.
• Communicate technical strategy, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to both engineering peers and non-technical stakeholders, building confidence and alignment at every level.

Minimum Qualifications

• Technical Experience: 8+ years of backend engineering experience.
• Proven track record of delivering complex, scalable systems in production environments.
• Advance proficiency in Java language or equivalent with strong object-oriented design skills with experience building maintainable, extensible systems.
• Experience with distributed systems and microservices architecture. Strong testing practices including unit and integration testing.
• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or relevant industry experience or equivalent is required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Leadership Experience: 3+ years of people management experience, including hands-on technical leadership. Prior engineering management experience is a plus, but not required for exceptional technical leaders.
• Experience building and operating systems in retail, commerce, or consumer-facing technology environments where scale, availability, and customer trust are paramount.
• Experience navigating complex, cross-functional environments and managing expectations across multiple stakeholders and partner teams.
• Experience with distributed systems, high-availability architectures, and fault-tolerant design patterns. Understanding of database technologies (both SQL and NoSQL) and data modeling. Knowledge of observability tools and practices (logging, metrics, tracing).
• Experience with containerization, orchestration, and cloud-native architectures.
• Strong understanding of application security principles - secure API design, secrets management, least-privilege access, and threat modeling
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate technical concepts, trade-offs, and impact to diverse audiences, including senior leadership.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. Apple provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities and in accordance with local requirements. Apple is a drug-free workplace.

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You'll find that idea reflected in everything here - in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.
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