Staff ML Engineer - Ads ML Infrastructure

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

Benefits offered by this job

Stock programs

Discretionary bonuses

Medical and dental coverage

Education expense reimbursement

Relocation

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Cupertino, CA, is seeking an experienced engineer for its Machine Learning Platform within the Ad Platforms group.

You will design, build, and scale ML systems that power advertising across Search Ads, App Store, and Apple News, collaborating with engineers and data scientists in an Agile environment. The role emphasizes deploying low-latency ML serving, performance tuning, and building reusable components to streamline ML workflows while protecting user privacy.

Qualifications

• Proven track record designing and operating large-scale ML serving platforms.
• Experience with model quantization, tensor parallelism, and inference optimizations.
• Experience with distributed systems supporting scalable inference workloads.
• Hands-on optimization of GPU kernels for DL primitives.
• Background in advertising, federated learning, and privacy-preserving ML.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale world-class ML platform capabilities for Ad Platforms.
• Collaborate with engineers and data scientists in an Agile environment.
• Mentor engineers through code/design reviews and knowledge sharing.

Skills

ML platform design

Distributed systems

GPU kernels

Model optimization

Privacy-preserving ML

Technical leadership

Code reviews

Developer experience

Communication

Education

PhD/MS/BS in CS and 8+ yrs

Tools

ONNX Runtime

TensorRT

Ray

Vector DB

Feature Stores

Job description

Cupertino, California, United States Machine Learning and AI

Description

At Apple, we work every day to create products that enrich people's lives. Our Ad Platforms group makes it possible for people around the world to easily access informative and imaginative content on their devices while helping publishers and developers promote and monetize their work. Today, our technology and services power advertising in Search Ads, App Store, and Apple News. Our platforms are highly-performant, deployed at scale, and setting new standards for enabling effective advertising while protecting user privacy. The Machine Learning Platform team's mission is to empower Ad Platforms teams to build and scale the innovative ML systems that deliver highly optimized advertising content to consumers. Are you a results-oriented and versatile engineer who can excel in an Agile environment? You will work closely with engineers and data scientists to design, develop, and build world-class platform capabilities that will enable Ad Platforms teams to improve and scale our ML features, models, and applications.

Minimum Qualifications

• Proven track record of designing and operating large-scale, low-latency ML Serving platform supporting real-time and batch inference.
• Experience of model quantization, tensor parallelism, and inference optimizations (e.g ONNX Runtime, TensorRT, vLLM). Actively led evaluation and adoption of such technologies.
• Experience working on distributed systems (e.g Ray, high-throughput RPC systems) to support scalable inference workloads and hybrid online/offline serving patterns.
• Hands-on experience designing and optimizing low-level GPU kernels to maximize hardware utilization, bypass memory bandwidth bottlenecks, and accelerate deep learning primitives.
• Prior experience in advertising industry, federated learning and privacy-preserving ML techniques.
• Recognized as a technical leader and mentor, supports the growth of engineers through code/design reviews, working groups, and internal knowledge sharing.
• Led development of foundational AI/ML platforms and tooling including Feature Stores, Vector DB to accelerate team productivity and model lifecycle management.
• Experience performance tuning & trouble-shooting.
• Passionate about developer experience builds abstractions, automation tools, and reusable components to streamline ML workflows and reduce operational burden.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbal, with technical and non-technical multi-functional teams.
• Results oriented with a desire to work in a fast-paced and collaborative work environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD, MS, or BS in computer science or a related field, with 8+ years of experience in machine learning and strong software engineering skills.

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

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