ML Applied Scientist, Apple Services Engineering AI/ML

The Apple Services Engineering (ASE) organization is one of the most exciting examples of Apple’s long-held passion for combining art with technology. We are the people who power the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books. And we do it on a massive scale, meeting Apple’s high expectations with high performance, to deliver a huge variety of entertainment in over 40 languages to more than 170 countries. Our scientists and engineers build secure, end-to-end solutions powered by Artifical Intelligence & Machine Learning. Thanks to Apple’s unique integration of hardware, software, and services, designers, scientists and engineers in ASE partner to get behind a single unified vision. That vision always includes a deep commitment to strengthening Apple’s privacy policy, one of Apple’s core values. Although services are a bigger part of Apple’s business than ever before, these teams remain small, flexible, and multi-functional, offering greater exposure to the array of opportunities here. We are looking for a Machine Learning Research Engineer to join our mission. You will design and develop the AI/ML solutions that power these experiences, from proposing and prototyping new algorithms to building reusable capabilities for the entire organization. In our flexible and collaborative environment, you'll work with designers and engineers to build secure, end-to-end solutions that honor Apple's core value of user privacy.

Description

In this role, you will drive technical advancement, influence product direction, and be part of the team that is responsible for bringing the latest advancements in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, as well as Generative and Agentic AI to drive major impact on how users discover Apple Media content on devices worldwide!

Our team has strong expertise in NLP, Information Retrieval, Machine Learning, Language Modeling, Generative AI, Data Mining, and Distributed Computing (Hadoop, Scala, Spark).

You will use data driven analysis to ideate, evaluate and prioritize features, and conduct A/B Tests to ensure we objectively measure improvements. You will ensure successful delivery of features, code, data, and models to production. You will collaborate with researchers, engineers, and operations teams to ensure that features and models are functioning at or above expected performance levels, globally in languages from Arabic to Vietnamese and everything in between!

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
2+ years of professional experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML).
Proficiency in Python and experience with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
Industry experience in one or more of the following areas: Generative AI, Agentic AI systems, Natural Language Processing (NLP) (e.g., text summarization), Search Relevance and Ranking, Online Advertising, or Recommendation Systems.
Solid understanding of modern machine learning concepts, including Transformers, LLMs, model evaluation techniques, and large-scale data pipelines.

Preferred Qualifications

Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
4+ years of professional AI/ML experience with a track record of shipping production models.
Deep expertise in Search and Information Retrieval, including indexing, query understanding, retrieval models, and ranking algorithms.
Hands-on experience with modern AI paradigms and tools, such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic workflows, vector databases (e.g., Pinecone, FAISS), and knowledge graphs.
Experience with large-scale data processing and pipeline construction using technologies like Spark, Hadoop, Java, or Scala.
Expertise in building low-latency model serving systems, with experience in languages like Go (Golang) is a plus.
Experience providing technical leadership on complex, cross-functional projects.
Excellent communication skills and a history of collaborating with partners to design and deliver scalable ML solutions.