Software Engineer - Build Support Engineering

Socket.dev; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a Software Engineer for the Build Support Engineering team to modernize build, deployment, and hotfix systems used by hundreds of developers. You will migrate legacy codebases to multi-repo workflows, standardize containerized artifacts, and scale tooling, while introducing AI-driven workflows and autonomous support capabilities.

Must have strong backend skills and experience with distributed systems.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of industry experience building backend systems.
• Strong programming skills in Java and Python.
• Hands-on experience with Kubernetes for container orchestration and deployment.
• Familiarity with AI-driven tools to improve workflows.
• Knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and distributed systems principles.
• Experience with relational and/or NoSQL databases.
• Excellent communication and collaborative mindset.
• BS, MS or PhD in Computer Science/Engineering.

Responsibilities

• Evolve core build, deployment, and hotfix systems powering Apple developers.
• Migrate large legacy codebases into modern multi-repo workflows.
• Standardize containerized build artifacts and scalable tooling.
• Explore AI-driven automation to triage incidents and assist developers.
• Collaborate with PMs, partner platform teams, and SREs to deliver robust production systems.

Skills

Backend development

Java

Python

Distributed systems

Algorithms & data structures

Databases

Communication

Team collaboration

AI-driven tooling familiarity

Education

BS in Computer Science/Engineering

MS in Computer Science/Engineering

PhD in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

Kubernetes

LangChain

Hugging Face

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Imagine empowering hundreds of developers across Apple Service Engineering to build, ship, and hotfix their services faster, more reliably, and with far less toil. At Apple, we don't just build products, we craft experiences that redefine entire ecosystems. The Build Support Engineering (BSE) team sits underneath that work, owning the build, deployment, and hotfix infrastructure that Apple's Commerce and platform engineering teams depend on to get code into production every day. Join us to develop the next-generation of Apple's cloud services infrastructure. As a Software Engineer on the Build Support Engineering team, you'll play a key role in modernizing large-scale build and deployment systems - untangling years of legacy tooling, standardizing on a single containerized build-and-deploy path, and building agentic AI systems that triage incidents, debug failures, and support developers autonomously. This is about designing robust, scalable systems that let hundreds of developers build, test, and release services efficiently, while continuously simplifying the platform underneath them. We're seeking engineers with a strong foundation in backend development who are also excited about applying AI - including agentic, tool-using systems - in practical, impactful ways. If you're energized by challenges that span distributed systems, build and deployment tooling, container orchestration, and autonomous intelligent agents, and ready to work on systems used by engineering teams across Apple, we'd love to hear from you. Join us, and help craft the future of build and deployment at Apple.

Description

The Build Support Engineering team is looking for a talented Software Engineer to help evolve the core build, deployment, and hotfix systems that Apple's developers depend on every day. You'll join a team responsible for migrating a large legacy codebase into modern, multi-repo workflows, standardizing containerized build artifacts, and scaling the tooling that powers service delivery - with opportunities to enhance these systems using AI-driven tools and practices. This role blends proven engineering practices with forward-looking approaches in agentic AI, intelligent automation, and platform simplification. You'll collaborate closely with project managers, partner platform teams, and SREs to translate clear requirements into production systems that are performant, resilient, and continually improving.

Minimum Qualifications

2+ years of industry experience building backend systems.Strong programming skills in Java and Python.Hands-on experience with Kubernetes for container orchestration and deployment.Familiarity with utilizing and developing AI-driven and agentic tools to improve workflows and productivity.Knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and distributed systems principles.Experience with databases (relational and/or NoSQL) and scalable service architectures.Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.BS, MS or PhD in Computer Science/Engineering

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with build systems and CI/CD tooling, and modernizing legacy build-and-deploy pipelines.Experience with containerization and standardized image-based deployment workflows.Familiarity with AI/ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow) and LLM libraries (e.g., LangChain, Hugging Face), or building AI-assisted developer and on-call tooling.Experience building agentic AI systems - LLM agents, tool/function calling, orchestration frameworks, or agent SDKs (e.g., Claude, MCP, LangGraph).Experience with large-scale codebase migrations and multi-repo tooling.Experience with messaging systems (e.g., Kafka) and microservices architectures.Passion for developer experience and empathy for building tools that empower other engineers.