Senior Manager, Business Operations & Planning — AI Organization

Apple • Cupertino, CA

22h

About The Position

The Infrastructure and Planning team within Software Engineering Operations is seeking a leader to drive Business Operations and Planning for the AI organization. This strategic role coordinates across the organization, connecting budget planning and operational execution with engineering leadership. The role aligns resources and budgets to critical development projects and initiatives, and oversees planning for the infrastructure and data required for model training and development, with a focus on optimization, utilization, and connecting engineering strategy to financial investment.

The position leads a Business Operations team responsible for internal budget planning across infrastructure capacity, data acquisitions, workforce management, and related processes. It ensures finance and engineering leadership understand how investments support model strategy and the software roadmap. The team guides workload prioritization and resource allocation to accelerate development, strengthen financial processes, and improve operational efficiency. The role also oversees strategic site planning and employee communications for the AI organization, aligning initiatives with a location strategy that supports retaining top ML talent.

Requirements

• 15 or more years of relevant experience in financial operations, business planning, or technology operations leadership.
• Leadership experience in financial and budget oversight roles within large technology organizations.
• Ability to influence and align stakeholders across organizations.
• Management experience guiding complex initiatives and multidisciplinary teams, including engineering, operations, cloud infrastructure, finance, and legal.
• Strong problem-solving ability and sound decision-making grounded in data.
• Deep knowledge of financial systems and business models, as well as software and machine learning engineering development processes.
• Excellent understanding of business and financial operations, and the ability to drive development of business tools and analytics that improve organizational efficiency.
• Experience with data reporting, excellent analytical skills, and meticulous attention to detail.
• Exceptional communication skills, including experience presenting complex topics to senior leadership.
• Ability to lead teams through ambiguity, organizational change, and evolving priorities.

Nice To Haves

• MBA and/or CPA, with a strong understanding of Finance policies and SOX compliance.
• Technical expertise or deep understanding of ML development.
• Passion for software development and AI/ML, with a consistent track record of operational results.
• Leadership that fosters collaboration across multiple initiatives.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams in a fast-paced, dynamic, and innovative environment.
• A proven track record of collaboration and influence across teams and organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead a Business Operations team responsible for internal budget planning for the AI organization.
• Manage infrastructure capacity planning, including supply and demand planning for first-party and third-party cloud resources.
• Oversee planning for data acquisitions, including licensed data and vendor-managed data.
• Oversee workforce management for internal and external headcount.
• Ensure finance and engineering leadership understand how investments connect to model strategy and the software roadmap.
• Guide workload prioritization and resource allocation to accelerate development, strengthen financial processes, and unlock operational efficiencies.
• Oversee strategic site planning and employee communications for the AI organization.
• Align key organizational initiatives with a location strategy that supports retaining top ML talent.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed