Sr. Software Engineer, Infrastructure Services (Data Plane)

Socket.dev; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking passionate engineers to design, build, and operate highly scalable, reliable systems for one of the world’s largest cloud infrastructures. You will work on next-generation services powering virtualized networks, computing, and storage.

The role requires deep knowledge of C/C++, Go or similar languages, strong networking fundamentals, and experience with distributed cloud infrastructure. You will collaborate across teams to solve complex problems at scale.

Qualifications

• Strong proficiency in systems programming languages such as C++, Go, or C; Java or Python valued.
• Solid CS fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, memory management, concurrency.
• Deep knowledge of Networking Fundamentals & Dataplane internals.
• Experience with Git and modern build/configuration tools.
• Experience designing scalable network data plane components and microservice APIs.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate next‑gen services powering virtualized networks, compute, and storage.
• Work at global scale solving distributed systems challenges and incidents.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally to own projects from design to closure.

Skills

C++

Go

C

Networking

Distributed systems

Git

REST/gRPC

Debugging production incidents

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science

Tools

DPDK

XDP

eBPF

VPP

OVS

P4

Job description

Do you want to help build some of the largest and most consequential enterprise and customer technology systems in the world? Join Apple’s Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) organization. IS&T is the engine behind everything Apple does for customers and for the people who build for them. It’s Apple’s central nervous system. Supporting 2.5 billion active Apple devices, processing billions of secure transactions, and keeping the technology that defines modern life running flawlessly, IS&T makes the impossible feel effortless.” Do you love building solutions to handle global complexity and immense scale? Imagine what you could do here. Infrastructure Services is part of IS&T and the foundation of Apple's global network operations — managing data center equipment and systems to deliver compute, storage, and networking services for teams across Apple, including its internal developer community. From individual facilities to a worldwide network, Infrastructure Services ensures the technology underneath everything works without question.

Description

We are looking for passionate engineers who love building super-scalable, reliable, and high-performance systems to support one of the world’s largest cloud infrastructures. In this role, you will design, build, and operate next-generation services that power virtualized networks, computing, and storage. Operating at our global scale presents unique challenges that demand radical engineering innovations. If you are excited about working close to the packet, optimizing line-rate forwarding pipelines from scratch, and solving complex distributed systems problems, our team is the place for you.

Minimum Qualifications

Strong proficiency in systems programming languages such as C++, Go, or C (experience with Java or modern scripting languages like Python is also valued).Solid foundation in Computer Science fundamentals: advanced data structures, algorithms, memory management, and concurrency.Deep knowledge of Networking Fundamentals & Dataplane internals: L2–L4 protocols, TCP/IP stack behavior, packet framing/encapsulation, routing, MTU/MSS, flow tables, and QoS/traffic shaping.Experience with source control (Git) and modern build/configuration management tools.Experience designing and optimizing scalable network data plane components, packet forwarding paths, or kernel/userspace networking subsystems.Understanding of microservice architectures, asynchronous communication, and API design (REST, gRPC, Protobuf).Proven ability to analyze and debug complex live production incidents under pressure using metrics, traces, and system logs.Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills with the drive to take ownership and lead projects to closure.

Preferred Qualifications

8+ years experience with kernel-bypass/accelerated packet processing technologies (e.g., DPDK, XDP, eBPF, VPP, OVS or P4).BS or MS in Computer Science or equivalent experience.Familiarity with hardware offload architectures (SmartNICs, ASICs) and network virtualization.Hands-on experience developing large-scale distributed cloud infrastructure services.