Senior Software Engineer - Multiple Teams

Summary

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. Sales and Operations Engineering is part of IS&T and drives the technology behind Apple's global operations, sales, and supply chain. The team connects the systems that move products from factory to customer — bridging sales platforms with the operational infrastructure that keeps Apple running at scale and ensuring Apple's technology and business priorities move in lockstep.

Minimum Qualifications

B.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent work experience. 8+ years experience in designing and developing scalable enterprise level back end solutions. 4+ years experience with Java, including proficiency in concurrency, memory management, and performance optimization techniques. Proficiency in OOP principles, data structures, algorithms, and software design patterns (e.g. GoF), with a proven focus on implementing testable, maintainable, and extensible backend code. Java Ecosystem - Experience building production applications with the Spring ecosystem (e.g. Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Security, Spring Data, Spring Cloud, etc.), including proficiency in dependency injection, auto-configuration, reactive programming with WebFlux, and designing microservices using Spring-based patterns. Java Ecosystem - Solid understanding of advanced JVM internals (e.g. garbage collection, memory allocation, JIT, JNI, etc.). Distributed Systems & Architecture - Experience in API design and implementation, including proficiency in RESTful API principles, gRPC, GraphQL, contract-first design (e.g. OpenAPI/Swagger, Protobuf, etc.), API versioning strategies, gateway patterns, rate limiting, and designing APIs for backward compatibility and long-term evolution. Distributed Systems & Architecture - Experience with message-driven and event-driven architectures, including proficiency in messaging systems (e.g. Kafka, RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ, etc.), event sourcing, CQRS patterns, and designing reliable asynchronous communication between distributed services.

Preferred Qualifications

Track record of leading software projects within a team as a tech lead (TL), while mentoring software engineers. Hands-on experience leveraging GenAI coding tools (e.g., Claude, Copilot, Codex) to accelerate the software development lifecycle, enhance code quality, and streamline debugging and testing processes. Security - Experience implementing authentication and authorization systems, including proficiency in identity protocols (e.g. OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, JWT, etc.), single sign-on (SSO) architectures, role-based and attribute-based access control (RBAC/ABAC), and integration with identity providers and directory services. AI/ML - Experience with Natural Language Processing and Generative AI systems, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures, embedding pipelines, vector databases (e.g. Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector, etc.), fine-tuning, and prompt engineering for production applications. Distributed Systems & Architecture - Experience with caching strategies and in-memory data technologies (e.g. Redis, Memcached, Hazelcast, Ehcache, etc.), including proficiency in cache invalidation patterns, distributed caching architectures, and session management for high-throughput applications. Databases - Experience using relational (e.g. Oracle, Postgres, MySQL, etc.) and NoSQL (e.g. Cassandra, MongoDB, etc.) databases, including proficiency in schema design, query optimization, performance tuning (e.g. execution plan analysis, indexing strategy, and query rewriting).

Description

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will design, build, and scale enterprise back-end systems that power critical Apple products and services. You will develop, document, and maintain production code in Java — from architecture through implementation — while independently owning complex, often ambiguous technical problems and driving cross-functional solutions with minimal guidance. You’ll be hands-on across the stack: designing APIs and microservices, working with core Java internals, optimizing data layer performance, and ensuring secure, reliable deployment. You will interface directly with business leaders, application owners, other developers, and project managers to take projects from inception to completion, and you’ll be responsible for delivering on commitments on time. Beyond individual contribution, you will act as a key technical mentor on your team, shaping architectural direction and raising the technical bar for those around you — extending your influence across related disciplines and organization-wide initiatives. This role calls for someone comfortable working independently and under pressure on sophisticated, large-scale system architecture.

Responsibilities

Design and build scalable, stateless REST APIs for web and mobile clients, spanning both reactive and non-reactive microservices, with responsibility for service orchestration, deployment, and overall architecture. Deliver efficient, readable, modular and high-quality Java code at pace, applying strong object-oriented design principles, data structures, and algorithms to solve everyday engineering challenges. Leverage deep Java expertise — including concurrency and multi-threading, the Spring ecosystem, and modern data access technologies — to build robust, maintainable services. Design database schemas and data access layers, applying performance tuning and caching strategies, including distributed caching services, to meet latency and scalability requirements. Own security and reliability across the stack, applying secure coding practices, building resilient distributed applications, and working across HTTP/HTTPS proxy and network layers. Drive CI/CD pipelines and build automation (Git, Maven), managing the deployment of enterprise-grade systems, including production AI/ML systems operating at scale. Take end-to-end ownership of complex, ambiguous problems, applying engineering best practices and sound judgment rather than relying on prescribed playbooks. Act as a key technical contributor within project teams, guiding architectural decisions, leading design and code reviews, and mentoring junior and mid-level engineers. Broaden technical depth across adjacent disciplines — including data, platform, security, and ML infrastructure — and contribute to cross-organizational initiatives. Communicate complex technical trade-offs clearly to both engineering and cross-functional stakeholders, building alignment across multi-disciplinary teams. Exercise sound independent judgment in determining how to achieve objectives, often extending beyond established practices, with oversight focused on major milestones rather than day-to-day execution.