Job description

In this role, you will lead the engineering team responsible for services that are central to all of Apple Services Engineering, developing new product features and platform capabilities. Your team's scope spans key customer-facing platforms including User Ratings and Reviews, the API gateway and broader platform infrastructure that Apple services and business verticals depend on. You will drive engineering solutions to enhance a globally distributed API, work with NoSQL data stores to push the boundaries of the CAP theorem, and shape data modeling strategies that keep our systems horizontally scalable as they grow. You will also oversee caching and content liveness systems that are foundational to the reliability and performance of Apple's services at scale. This is not just a technical leadership role, it is a strategic one. You will serve as a strategic partner to Product Management and senior leadership alike, shaping product direction, roadmap prioritization, and long-term engineering investments in equal measure. You will translate product requirements into actionable engineering decisions while ensuring engineering perspectives are embedded throughout the development lifecycle. Partnering closely with Directors and VPs, you'll navigate complex cross-functional negotiations, advocate for the right technical solutions, and champion the platform and infrastructure work that often gets squeezed by business priorities — making the case for foundational investments and protecting the runway your team needs to keep systems healthy and scalable. BS or MS in Computer Science, 10+ years of experience in a related field, with 5+ years building and managing engineering teams central to product and platform development. Demonstrated experience engaging and influencing senior technical leadership, including Directors and VPs. Proven ability to navigate complex cross-team technical negotiations and drive alignment on architectural and implementation decisions. Track record of strategic planning, balancing business-driven feature work with critical infrastructure investments and making those trade-offs clearly and consistently. Expertise in scalable web services, globally distributed systems, and multi-functional feature delivery. Expertise with NoSQL data stores such as Solr, Redis, Memcached, Cassandra, Voldemort, or similar. Hands-on experience with Java and functional languages such as Scala and Clojure. Strong analytical skills with a deep understanding of data structures and algorithms. Experience owning complex engineering projects from inception through production. Prior experience with hiring, performance management, and growing senior engineering talent. Excellent communication skills, can make compelling arguments, drive difficult conversations, and represent engineering clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Demonstrates strong judgment in knowing when to escalate, when to resolve informally, and how to cultivate relationships that accelerate execution. Strong attention to detail with the ability to context-switch across multiple high-priority workstreams and engage all levels of the technical stack. Experience managing teams with presence across multiple international locations and time zones. Comfortable engaging hands-on in technical discussions, code reviews, and production troubleshooting alongside the team. Expertise in Big Data processing technologies such as Spark and Flink.

Requirements

Must-haves

BS or MS in Computer Science, 10+ years of experience in a related field, with 5+ years building and managing engineering teams central to product and platform development.
Demonstrated experience engaging and influencing senior technical leadership, including Directors and VPs.
Proven ability to navigate complex cross-team technical negotiations and drive alignment on architectural and implementation decisions.
Track record of strategic planning, balancing business-driven feature work with critical infrastructure investments and making those trade-offs clearly and consistently.
Expertise in scalable web services, globally distributed systems, and multi-functional feature delivery.
Expertise with NoSQL data stores such as Solr, Redis, Memcached, Cassandra, Voldemort, or similar.
Hands-on experience with Java and functional languages such as Scala and Clojure.
Strong analytical skills with a deep understanding of data structures and algorithms.
Experience owning complex engineering projects from inception through production.
Prior experience with hiring, performance management, and growing senior engineering talent.
Excellent communication skills, can make compelling arguments, drive difficult conversations, and represent engineering clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Demonstrates strong judgment in knowing when to escalate, when to resolve informally, and how to cultivate relationships that accelerate execution.
Strong attention to detail with the ability to context-switch across multiple high-priority workstreams and engage all levels of the technical stack.
Experience managing teams with presence across multiple international locations and time zones.
Comfortable engaging hands-on in technical discussions, code reviews, and production troubleshooting alongside the team.
Expertise in Big Data processing technologies such as Spark and Flink.

Nice-to-haves

None flagged.

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Keywords to mirror

apijava

Platform: apple
Effort: medium