Machine Learning Engineer, Natural Language Understanding, Proactive

Build personalized, on-device query understanding that powers search and assistant experiences across Apple products. In Apple’s On-Device Query Understanding team, you will research and deliver machine learning models designed for both quality and efficiency, including LLM/NLU approaches and inference optimization to support fast, power-efficient performance on device.

Work style: Santa Clara, CA (onsite). Compensation: USD 150,400 - 277,600 per year.

What you’ll do

• Research, design, implement, and evaluate models that advance personalized query understanding, user intent resolution, retrieval, and ranking
• Use natural language processing, deep learning, and large language model techniques to produce grounded, contextually relevant responses
• Assess performance gaps in current search and assistant systems, then develop algorithms and techniques to improve model quality and impact key product outcomes
• Shape long-term technical direction by defining a vision, proposing roadmaps, and setting measurable objectives
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to define product requirements, establish evaluation metrics, and support outcomes tied to user satisfaction

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in machine learning, natural language processing, or computer vision, applied at scale
• Production software engineering experience with Python, Go, C/C++, Swift, or Objective-C
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field

Helpful experience

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience
• Experience with Small Language Models (SLMs) and on-device LLM training, plus model compression/quantization and production deployment
• Experience with large-scale query understanding, search, recommendation, or personal assistant systems
• Proficiency with ML frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow, or XGBoost
• Background in personalization and data-driven decision making, including the ability to prototype and conduct critical analysis
• Experience with Swift, Swift frameworks, or Apple platform development (plus)
• Experience with build infrastructure, release management, and CI/CD pipelines (plus)

Technologies you may work with

• Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and machine learning inference optimization
• PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow, XGBoost
• Small Language Models (SLMs), model compression/quantization
• Swift, Objective-C, Python, Go, C/C++

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• Retirement benefits
• Discounted products and free services
• Reimbursement for certain educational expenses, including tuition
• Discretionary bonuses or commission payments and relocation may be eligible
• Opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs
• Eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards
• Can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Learn more about Apple Benefits