Machine Learning Engineer - Notifications & Personalization

Apple is building more intelligent, proactive, and personal experiences across iOS and Apple platforms, with machine learning models that run on-device while protecting user privacy. In this role, you will help train, deploy, and evaluate privacy-preserving ML models that support core system experiences such as notifications, widgets, and Focus prediction. You will partner with software and ML engineers to create model and infrastructure pipelines that fit device power and performance constraints.

What you’ll do

• Ship and evaluate machine learning solutions at scale, using real-world metrics to understand both model behavior and product impact.
• Design and run evaluation frameworks that measure model quality, user engagement, and product outcomes across large populations.
• Build instrumentation and telemetry pipelines to collect, analyze, and act on user signals.
• Plan and implement experiments for on-device machine learning models to assess deployed performance and optimize results.
• Implement, train, and optimize ML models using unsupervised and supervised learning, including classification, regression, and artificial neural networks, with tools such as Scikit-Learn and Apple frameworks including CoreML and CreateML.
• Apply reinforcement learning techniques to personalize on-device suggestions, including app, people, and action recommendations.
• Deploy machine learning models for on-device inference using Python, Objective-C, and Swift, producing clean, readable, testable, and deployable code.
• Select datasets and data representation approaches, including identifying data sources and implementing privacy-preserved data collection algorithms for training.
• Use data preparation techniques such as preprocessing, profiling, cleansing, validation, and transformation to ready data for model training.
• Apply statistical and mathematical methods, including regression analysis, using Python and SQL-based querying tools to derive insights from large datasets and improve model performance.
• Bring strong product and design intuition to connect model decisions to UI behavior and user perception.
• Collaborate closely with the Apple Design team to ensure intelligent features feel intentional rather than intrusive.
• Translate ambiguous user needs into measurable signals, tuning models to optimize for user-perceived quality instead of purely statistical metrics.
• Work within large-scale operating system development constraints, including performance, memory, and power.
• Build across the iOS system stack using Objective-C, Swift, and C++.
• Deliver features that span multiple system components, with familiarity in on-device inference constraints such as latency, privacy, and resource budgets.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams such as Privacy Engineering to support privacy-preserved and secured data collection for training and optimization.
• Use UI development, design, and prototyping experience to support end-to-end feature development.

Requirements

• 7-10 years of experience
• Experience shipping and evaluating at scale
• Experience training and deploying machine learned models
• Experience working on embedded operating systems
• Ability to build strong user experiences
• BS, MS, or PhD in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

Technologies

• Scikit-Learn
• CoreML
• CreateML
• Python
• Objective-C
• Swift
• SQL
• C++

Pay & Benefits

• Base pay range: USD 184,700 - 324,800 per year (dependent on skills, qualifications, experience, and location)
• 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 as applicable
• Eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards
• Can purchase Apple stock at a discount through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (voluntary)
• Note: Benefits, compensation, and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program

Location: Cupertino, CA (onsite)

Experience level: 7+ years

Education: PhD, MS, or BS in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field