Software Engineer, Platform Reliability Engineering, AiDP

Apple Inc.; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 278,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical & dental coverage

Apple stock programs

Relocation assistance

Education reimbursement

Employee discounts

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA seeks a Software Engineer for Platform Reliability Engineering in AiDP to design, operate, and optimize large-scale distributed systems powering GenAI, ML, and data platforms.

You will own mission-critical platform components, respond to production incidents, and collaborate across teams to shape the future of data and AI infrastructure at Apple. Experience with Kubernetes, Spark, and open source tooling is valued.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
• Proficiency in at least one systems programming language (Python, Go, Java, or similar).
• Strong expertise in distributed systems architecture, with deep knowledge of reliability, scalability, and containerization principles.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms and data processing infrastructure (Kubernetes, Spark, Flink, Ray, Trino, or equivalent technologies).

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable multi-tenant systems that support diverse workloads and technologies at enterprise scale
• Own the full lifecycle of infrastructure and platform projects—from architectural design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and optimization
• Operate and optimize high-throughput, mission-critical services to ensure reliability, performance, and cost-efficiency
• Participate in on-call rotations to respond to production incidents; diagnose root causes, implement rapid fixes, and drive post-incident improvements
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams to define requirements, validate designs, and deliver customer-impacting features and improvements
• Proactively identify operational bottlenecks and systemic issues; implement preventive measures to reduce incident frequency and improve system resilience
• Establish observability practices and continuously refine operational excellence standards across the platform

Skills

Distributed systems

SRE/DevOps

Python/Go/Java

Kubernetes

Big data

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent

Tools

Kubernetes

Spark

Flink

Ray

Trino

Iceberg

Job description

Software Engineer, Platform Reliability Engineering, AiDP

Sunnyvale, California, United States Corporate Functions

AI & Data Platforms (AiDP) is IS&T's engine for AI-powered innovation. The team brings together data, application development, and machine learning — including generative AI — along with data services and customer success functions, to help IS&T build solutions more efficiently and streamline the adoption and embedding of generative AI across Apple.The Applied Machine Learning team in AI and Data Platform organization is building the foundation for Apple's enterprise-wide machine learning and data capabilities. Our Applied Machine Learning team designs, builds, and operates mission-critical platforms and services spanning ML, GenAI, inference, and big data—enabling teams across the company to harness AI and analytics at scale. We tackle complex technical challenges in reliability, performance, and scalability across a diverse ecosystem of open source and cutting-edge technologies, serving some of Apple's most demanding workloads.

Description

We're seeking an experienced software engineer to join our Platform Reliability Engineering team and drive the design, operation, and optimization of large-scale distributed systems that power our GenAI, ML, and big data platforms. You'll leverage cutting-edge open source technologies in hybrid cloud environments to build resilient infrastructure that enables seamless inference, data processing, and machine learning workloads at scale. In this role, you'll own mission-critical platform components, respond to production incidents, and collaborate across teams to shape the future of our data and AI infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain scalable multi-tenant systems that support diverse workloads and technologies at enterprise scale
• Own the full lifecycle of infrastructure and platform projects—from architectural design and implementation through deployment, monitoring, and optimization
• Operate and optimize high-throughput, mission-critical services to ensure reliability, performance, and cost-efficiency
• Participate in on-call rotations to respond to production incidents; diagnose root causes, implement rapid fixes, and drive post-incident improvements
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams to define requirements, validate designs, and deliver customer-impacting features and improvements
• Proactively identify operational bottlenecks and systemic issues; implement preventive measures to reduce incident frequency and improve system resilience
• Establish observability practices and continuously refine operational excellence standards across the platform

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent professional experience
• Proficiency in at least one systems programming language (Python, Go, Java, or similar)
• Strong expertise in distributed systems architecture, with deep knowledge of reliability, scalability, and containerization principles
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms and data processing infrastructure (Kubernetes, Spark, Flink, Ray, Trino, or equivalent technologies)

Preferred Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in SRE, DevOps, or infrastructure engineering, with demonstrated expertise managing distributed systems at scale.
• Proficiency in diagnosing and resolving complex production incidents and performance bottlenecks in large-scale distributed environments.
• Familiarity with open source codebases; ability to read, understand, and explain complex system implementations
• Strong understanding of system architecture and proven ability to collaborate effectively across engineering teams
• Hands-on experience with big data technologies (Spark, Flink, Iceberg) and/or ML/AI platforms (Ray, MLflow, model serving infrastructure).
• Strong foundational knowledge of Linux, databases, and security principles
• Proactive mindset with demonstrated commitment to optimizing reliability and uptime for mission-critical services
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to articulate technical concepts and strategies to both engineering teams and non-technical leadership
• Demonstrated track record of designing and operating systems at scale

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 $184,700 and $277,600, 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. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits
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

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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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.