Apple

Software Development Engineer, Compute Platform

Apple$130K — $155K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Strong programming skills in Go, Python, C++, or similar languages.
  • Working knowledge of distributed systems and OS fundamentals.
  • Experience with large-scale infrastructure instrumentation and data analysis.
  • Ability to reason quantitatively about production data and operational risks.
  • Track record of end-to-end project ownership from ambiguity to production.
  • Strong communication skills for engaging with customers and conveying complex data effectively.
  • BS in Computer Science or related field (3+ years experience) or MS (1+ years experience) or PhD.

Responsibilities

  • Own features from data analysis to production implementation.
  • Implement changes across the technology stack, up to node-level configurations.
  • Design and run production validations to ensure model accuracy and reliability.
  • Diagnose and remedy misbehaving predictions impacting system behavior.
  • Write and review code and design documentation for the team.
  • Analyze customer workloads and cluster usage to forecast demand and adjust configurations.
  • Engage in quantitative analysis for planning and prioritization decisions.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work on a large-scale compute platform.
  • Access to collaborate with diverse software and hardware teams at Apple.
  • Chance to engage directly with customers to understand and address their needs.
  • Participation in an on-call rotation, contributing to platform issue resolution.
  • High-quality standards that reflect Apple's commitment to excellence.
Full Job Description
Apple Services Engineering (ASE)'s Compute team is seeking a software engineer comfortable across data and systems to help our batch-focused compute platform make better decisions. The platform runs millions of jobs a day across tens of thousands of hosts and retains a detailed record of how each one behaved. You will turn that record into predictions, optimizations and services the platform can act on, improving both the efficiency of the fleet and the reliability of the workloads that run on it. The work is end to end: you will explore the data, build and validate the model, take it to production, and demonstrate the gains on live clusters. The platform is technically deep, and a prediction only pays off if you understand the systems that will act on it. **Description** In this role, you will develop, debug, and maintain data-driven features of a large-scale batch focussed compute platform. You will: * Own features end to end that turn job behavior into decisions the platform acts on - from the initial data analysis through the model or heuristic, the APIs, production serving, and the measurement that proves it worked * Implement your own changes across the stack, from platform services and control plane paths down to node-level resource limits and configuration * Design and run validation in production: shadow mode, staged rollouts, explicit success metrics, and a rollback plan * Have full ownership for the decisions your models make. When a prediction misbehaves, diagnose it, bound the impact, and help fix the system that trusted it * Write and review code, generate and review design documentation * Engage directly with customers and partner teams on their compute needs: understand their workloads, analyze cluster utilization and capacity, and turn that analysis into demand forecasts, node pool configuration and quota decisions that balance customer demand against fleet efficiency * Bring quantitative analysis to open questions across the team - sizing, planning and prioritization decisions where good data changes the answer * Participate in software qualifications and rollouts to production clusters * Participate in an on-call rotation where engineers respond to platform issues for same-day resolution * Work with a wide range of software and hardware engineering teams across Apple to support their workflows or integrate their technology into our platform * Hold yourself and others to a high quality standard expected of Apple products **Minimum Qualifications** Strong programming skills in a general-purpose language (Go, Python, C++, or similar), and demonstrated ability to design, debug, and test complex software systems Working knowledge of distributed systems and operating system fundamentals Experience instrumenting large-scale infrastructure and analyzing the data it produces - reasoning quantitatively about how CPU, memory, I/O or network consumption behaves and how it scales - and turning that analysis into a decision or a measurable improvement in production Comfort reasoning quantitatively about production data - distributions and tails, not just averages - and about the risk a wrong estimate creates for a running workload Track record of owning a project from an ambiguous problem statement through production Strong communication and organizational skills, including the ability to work directly with customers and to make quantitative results legible and actionable for people who are not data specialists BS in Computer Science / related fields and 3+ years of experience or MS with 1+ years of experience or PhD **Preferred Qualifications** Experience building or operating a large-scale compute platform with responsibility for its capacity, efficiency, or performance Experience improving utilization on a production platform - right-sizing requests from historical usage, oversubscription, bin packing, co-locating batch alongside latency-sensitive work, or reclaiming unallocated capacity. Comparable work on Kubernetes VPA, on runtime or demand prediction feeding an HPC scheduler, or on an in-house equivalent is equally relevant Experience characterizing workloads at fleet scale, for example grouping jobs into behavioral classes or building the telemetry to do so Experience shipping a model or heuristic that made automated decisions in production, and owning the outcome Experience with forecasting, regression, or uncertainty estimation applied to operational time series Experience modelling how a system's resource consumption scales - for example projecting the network, storage or I/O demand created by growing a compute footprint - and using that to inform capacity or sizing decisions Experience with Kubernetes / Slurm or a comparable batch scheduling system

About Apple

Apple is a corporation that designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, portable digital music players, and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Apple provides many products and services, including iPhone; iPad; iPod; Mac; Apple TV; a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications; the iOS and OS X operating systems; iCloud; and accessories, service, and support offerings. It sells its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, direct sales force and third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers to the consumer and also sells third-party iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod compatible products, including application software and accessories through its online and retail stores. Introduced in 1984, the Macintosh was the first widely sold personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI). That feature and others such as an improved floppy drive design and a low-cost hard drive that made data retrieval faster helped Apple cultivate a reputation for innovation. Apple was named as the most admired company in the United States in 2008 and in the world from 2008 to 2012 by the Fortune magazine. The company was founded by Steven Paul Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Gerald Wayne on April 1, 1976, and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Apple Careers

Join Apple, a place where extraordinary people gather to do their best work. Our ever-expanding global team is at the forefront of innovation and leadership in the tech industry. At Apple, we're not just building products—we're crafting the kind of wonder that revolutionizes entire industries. It's the diversity of our people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. Work You’ll Do Embark on a journey with Apple’s market-leading team to help some of the world’s most influential companies navigate their path to digital mastery with cutting-edge technology and services. Transform industries and touch lives with your unique ideas at Apple. Here, you’ll lead through a unique position at the intersection of technology, creativity, and robust industry expertise. Collaborate with a global team of professionals who are at the top of their game in technology and design. Apple isn’t just a company, it’s a community of innovators and passionate thinkers. Introducing the Apple Innovation and Leadership Initiative We are building a market-leading team to drive our efforts in delivering groundbreaking solutions and services. At Apple, job opportunities are abundant, offering you the chance to explore diverse roles from engineering to marketing, all designed to empower your career growth. Do Innovative Work Join the largest group of creative and technical experts in the world—professionals dedicated to redefining what’s possible through technology and innovation. Deliver targeted solutions through a depth and breadth of expertise that’s unmatched, driving forward our commitment to excellence and leadership in every project we undertake. Be Part of a Great Team Engage in a wide range of projects utilizing Apple’s technology and resources. Harness the unparalleled capabilities, global scale, and joint solution development that only Apple can offer. Future-Proof Your Career Advance your career with limitless opportunities at Apple. Go as far as your ambition takes you with unmatched training, development, and certification support. Explore Discover how Apple is leading the way in tech innovation: [With iOS] Businesses can streamline operations and enhance customer interactions... READ MORE Smart home technology integration that sets the standard for convenience and security... READ MORE The Apple Experience Our combined service capabilities, global scale, and joint solution development help clients overcome challenges and lead transformation in their industries. Clients worldwide look to Apple for new strategies and solutions that drive growth and innovation in the digital era. Stay Connected Join Our Team Search open positions that match your skills and interests. We look for passionate, curious, creative, and solution-driven team players. Whether you’re seeking a professional role, an internship, or a leadership position, Apple offers a variety of employment opportunities. SEARCH APPLE JOBS Keep Up to Date Stay ahead with career tips, insider perspectives, and industry-leading insights you can put to use today—all from the people who work here. READ CAREERS BLOG Job Alert Emails Personalize your subscription to receive job alerts, latest news, and insider tips tailored to your preferences. See what exciting and rewarding opportunities await at Apple, a company committed to diversity, innovation, and leadership. Explore job opportunities, employment benefits, and the culture of growth and innovation at Apple. Prepare your resume, hone your interview skills, and ready yourself for a career at one of the most prestigious companies in the world. Join us in pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Learn more about Apple
Size
154,000 employees
Market Cap
$2,074.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
$63.9 billion
Founded
1976
5 Year Trend
+11.5%
Revenue
$294.1 billion
NASDAQ

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