Sr. Software Engineer, Infrastructure Services (Data Plane)

Apple Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 325,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock programs

Medical and dental coverage

Tuition reimbursement

Relocation support

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Sr. Software Engineer for Infrastructure Services in the San Francisco Bay Area to design and operate next-generation dataplane services powering Apple’s cloud infrastructure.

You will work on high-throughput, low-latency packet processing, integration with control planes, and delivering scalable network data plane components at global scale.

Qualifications

• Strong systems programming experience with C/C++ or Go.
• Solid CS fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, memory management.
• Deep networking knowledge: L2–L4, TCP/IP, QoS, routing.
• Experience with Git and modern build/config tools.
• Experience building scalable data plane components and APIs.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize high-throughput dataplane systems.
• Create modular, low-latency forwarding engines and overlay services.
• Collaborate on control plane interfaces (gRPC, REST) for state distribution.
• Maintain production health and triage incidents with telemetry and logs.
• Deliver software using CI/CD and configuration management.

Skills

C++

Go

C

Data structures

Algorithms

Concurrency

Networking fundamentals

Git

REST/gRPC APIs

Kernel-bypass

Education

BS in Computer Science or equivalent

MS in Computer Science (preferred)

Tools

DPDK

XDP

eBPF

VPP

OVS

P4

Job description

Sr. Software Engineer, Infrastructure Services (Data Plane)

San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States Software and Services

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.

Responsibilities

• Dataplane Architecture & Development: Design, implement, and optimize high-throughput, ultra-low-latency packet processing systems, forwarding engines, and overlay network services (e.g., VXLAN, Geneve, NAT, Load Balancing).
• System Design & High-Performance Coding: Build modular, resilient, and performant systems leveraging efficient data structures, lock-free concurrency, and hardware/software acceleration.
• Control Plane Integration: Collaborate closely with control plane and distributed systems teams to build clean, performant APIs (gRPC, REST) for state distribution and policy enforcement.
• Operational Excellence & Incident Triage: Maintain line-of-sight on production health; debug live incidents using packet captures, telemetry, metrics, and logs to identify root cause and implement long-term mitigations.
• Automation & Delivery: Utilize modern CI/CD, Git workflows, and configuration management tools to reliably deliver software against bold deadlines.

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.

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 $324,800, 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.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace

Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.