Senior Software Development Engineer in Test (Cupertino, USA)

Senior Software Development Engineer in Test

Company Overview

Imagine what we could do together. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job, and there’s no telling what we could accomplish! The Apple Services Engineering team is one of the most exciting examples of Apple’s long-held passion for combining art and technology. We are the people who power the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, Apple Sports and Apple Fitness. And we do it on a massive scale, meeting Apple’s high standard for quality and excellence, to deliver a huge variety of entertainment in over 50+ languages to more than 150 countries.

Job Summary

If you are looking for an opportunity to grow in a technical capacity by leveraging your skills along with building up solid domain knowledge and automated testing strategies and systems around Apple's services offerings in the AI/ML space, we would love to talk to you! We are seeking an experienced engineer with a passion for quality engineering and a working understanding of AI/ML systems to lead quality efforts across our machine learning platform. In this strategic role, you will shape how we test and validate machine learning pipelines, data workflows, and platform services that power our AI products at scale. You will drive end-to-end quality initiatives across data ingestion, model training, deployment pipelines, and MLOps tooling. As a senior technical leader, you will influence architecture, establish test frameworks tailored for ML systems, and guide teams on scalable, testable, and reliable AI infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Quality Strategy for ML Platform: Own and define the testing strategy for end-to-end ML pipelines, data flows, and AI platform services.
• Tooling & Infrastructure Influence: Guide the selection and integration of tools and platforms that support scalable test automation, data validation, continuous training (CT), and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) in ML workflows.
• Collaborate with ML Engineers & Data Scientists: Partner closely with AI/ML engineers, MLOps, and data science teams to ensure testability, model governance, and validation of ML outputs.
• Champion Best Practices: Define and enforce standards for quality in ML systems — including unit, integration, regression, and fairness testing.
• Measure & Improve Quality: Define and track quality metrics such as test coverage for ML pipelines, test flakiness, and pipeline reliability.
• Mentor Engineering Teams: Influence ML Engineering and Platform teams to adopt a quality-driven approach in their design and implementation
• Stay Ahead of AI Testing Trends: Explore new tools and research in AI quality assurance, ML testing frameworks, and integrate them where beneficial.

Requirements / Qualifications

• 10+ years in software development and/or test automation, with at least 3 years leading complex, distributed system testing.
• B.S. in Computer Science or similar field, M.S. preferred.
• Strong programming experience in Java or Python, with ability to write reusable test frameworks.
• Proven ability to lead testing efforts for large-scale, backend or platform systems (ideally including microservices or cloud-based architectures).
• Deep understanding of test design methodologies, CI/CD practices, and test automation at scale.
• Experience with test frameworks and tools such as PyTest, JUnit, or equivalent.
• Experience with performance testing of large scale systems.
• Skilled in driving multi-functional quality programs and influencing engineering architecture and tooling.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience testing AI/ML systems or platforms that include ML model training or data pipelines.
• A general understanding of Machine Learning Lifecycle.
• Have worked on projects using GenAI.
• Experience working with cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure) and containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Contributions to quality strategies in AI/ML product teams or research settings.

Location

Cupertino, CA, Remote: False

Salary & Benefits

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 $147,400 and $272,100, 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.

Equal Opportunity Statement

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.