Machine Learning Research Engineer

Summary

The Product Operations machine learning team is seeking a machine learning research engineer to conduct research in anomaly detection and automated machine learning to address domain-specific challenges in manufacturing multi-modal data that includes time-series, graph, image and/or tabular data.

Research engineers on our team drive projects from ideation to validation, with the goal of improving our core manufacturing ML capabilities. They support ML software engineers in translating successful approaches to production code, and train MLEs to apply them to factory use cases.

Description

The Apple Operations team ensures that ground breaking designs become industry-leading products. In this role you will join a small team at the heart of our manufacturing ML capabilities. Our R&D team is responsible for the core ML libraries that engineers use to train models for factory deployment. We improve core capabilities through applied research, with partners in academia and across Apple’s research org.

Responsibilities

• As a Research Engineer, your responsibility will be to drive your research from ideation to impact. You will work closely with manufacturing machine learning engineers around the world to understand the challenges and opportunities in the field. You’ll leverage your research experience to propose and execute on promising approaches. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with internal and academic research partners and contribute to our org’s comprehensive research strategy.
• On our team, we integrate successful research into robust pipelines that our partner teams leverage when training models. Successful applicants are self-motivated, experienced researchers, who are quick to build relationships and want to do impactful applied research. Exceptional candidates will demonstrate collaborative code practices, the ability to write and review production-quality code, and interest in training MLEs to apply novel approaches in the field.

Minimum Qualifications

• Expertise in independently designing and implementing ML experiments — establishing appropriate metrics, benchmarks, milestones, and communicating results to stakeholders with varying levels of technical background
• Ph.D. in Machine Learning from CS or ECE
• Publication record commensurate with seniority

Preferred Qualifications

• Track record of successful research and interest in one or more of the following: weakly- and semi-supervised machine learning, domain adaptation, data efficiency, knowledge distillation, imbalanced classification and regression, tabular foundation models, etc.
• For new-grad applicants, at least one first author publication in top machine learning / data mining conferences including ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR, KDD, CIKM, ICDM, SDM, The Web Conference, etc.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrable collaborative software development skills, including design review and code review

Pay & 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 $119,100 and $177,700, 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 Inc.’s discretionary employee stock programs. Employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit award recommendations, and can purchase Apple Inc. stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple Inc.’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Participation in Apple Inc.’s discretionary stock programs is governed by Apple Inc.’s stock plans and agreements and are not part of local employment contracts or compensation.

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
• retirement benefits
• a range of discounted products and free services
• for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition
• discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation

Note: Apple benefit and compensation programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. Apple provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Apple is a drug‑free workplace.

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace

This posting is for an existing opportunity at Apple.

Qualified candidates can expect a hiring rate up to the midpoint of the pay range. On an exceptional basis, candidates with significant experience and skills for the role may be paid up to the range maximum.

Role Number: 200670886-4102