Senior Software Engineer - Distributed Build Systems

Apple • Cupertino, CA

9h

About The Position

Apple's distributed build platform is central to the development and delivery of
every operating system and app we ship. Tens of thousands of engineers rely on
it daily to develop software that ships to billions of customers — a scale that
has few peers in the industry. This role is part of the Software Engineering
Developer Productivity team that builds and operates that platform, working at
the intersection of developer productivity and systems engineering to solve
complex distributed systems and build automation challenges. Every performance
improvement and correctness fix translates directly into faster, more reliable
software development for thousands of engineers across Apple, and ultimately
into better products for billions of people. The challenges here go well beyond
routine development. They demand creative thinking, strong fundamentals, and a
drive to build solutions where none exist yet.

DESCRIPTION

We're looking for senior software engineers who combine deep technical ability
with strong engineering judgment and the ability to lead through influence. In
this role, you'll shape the platform by identifying and solving the most
important problems, while raising the engineering bar for the team. You'll own
technically complex and high-impact projects to optimize distributed scheduling,
ensure build correctness, develop caching strategies, and continuously improve
build performance at scale. You'll set technical direction, make design
trade-offs, and ensure high-quality outcomes. Post-delivery, you'll use data and
telemetry to measure impact, drive reliability improvements, and support
production systems on call. Beyond individual contributions, you'll play a key
role in elevating the team by mentoring engineers, establishing engineering best
practices, improving development processes, and contributing to a culture of
technical rigor and continuous improvement. You'll help less-experienced
engineers grow by providing thoughtful code review, facilitating design
discussions, and creating opportunities for others to take on challenging work.
You'll also need to communicate effectively across organizational boundaries,
articulating technical trade-offs to stakeholders, aligning efforts across
teams, and representing the team's technical perspective in cross-functional
planning.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering experience in developer tooling, backend, infrastructure, or systems contexts
• Experience developing testing strategies and operating software in production environments using metrics, telemetry, and performance data to evaluate system behavior, identify bottlenecks, and drive iteration on systems
• Experience owning the delivery of projects with significant scope, including defining approach and driving completion
• Experience mentoring engineers or raising team capabilities through code review, design guidance, or knowledge sharing

Nice To Haves

• Distributed systems, scheduling, or caching at scale
• Concurrency, systems programming, or performance optimization
• Build systems (Swift Build, Bazel, Buck, etc.)
• Observability, monitoring, or SRE practices
• Leveraging AI-assisted development tools to improve personal and team productivity
• Making risk-informed decisions about changes to systems with broad user impact
• Driving architectural decisions that balance near-term delivery with long-term system health
• Communicating technical trade-offs to diverse audiences, including those outside your immediate domain

Responsibilities

• Shape the platform by identifying and solving the most important problems, while raising the engineering bar for the team.
• Own technically complex and high-impact projects to optimize distributed scheduling, ensure build correctness, develop caching strategies, and continuously improve build performance at scale.
• Set technical direction, make design trade-offs, and ensure high-quality outcomes.
• Use data and telemetry to measure impact, drive reliability improvements, and support production systems on call.
• Elevate the team by mentoring engineers, establishing engineering best practices, improving development processes, and contributing to a culture of technical rigor and continuous improvement.
• Help less-experienced engineers grow by providing thoughtful code review, facilitating design discussions, and creating opportunities for others to take on challenging work.
• Communicate effectively across organizational boundaries, articulating technical trade-offs to stakeholders, aligning efforts across teams, and representing the team's technical perspective in cross-functional planning.

What This Job Offers

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