Sr. Prototyping Software Engineer

Apple • Santa Clara, CA

20h

About The Position

Join a team of passionate and creative engineers dedicated to building technologies that will shape the future of the home. We are a cross-functional group that thrives on collaboration, innovation, and tackling challenging problems to create products that are both profoundly useful and delightful to use. Our work lies at the intersection of groundbreaking hardware, software, and design, and we are looking for a key contributor to help us explore what's possible. We are seeking a versatile Sr. Prototyping Software Engineer with end-to-end expertise to accelerate the exploration of new home product concepts. In this role, you will be responsible for the entire lifecycle of complex prototypes — from initial hardware design and sensor integration to software development and the application of machine learning. You are a builder at heart, someone who can seamlessly navigate the stack from low-level firmware to high-level applications to bring innovative home experiences to life, fast. You take pride in the craft — your prototypes don't just work, they look and feel like finished products. As a Sr. Prototyping Software Engineer, you will be a critical member of a multi-disciplinary team, responsible for rapidly prototyping and validating novel home product concepts. Your work will directly influence future product direction by demonstrating the viability and potential of new technologies to senior leadership. The prototypes you build will be used in high-visibility executive demos, so a relentless attention to detail and polish — from reliability to great UI — is essential. You thrive in ambiguity, pick up new skills and tools quickly, and adapt your approach as projects evolve.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong foundation in mathematics, including linear algebra, probability, statistics, and signal processing.
• 6+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and integrating systems that span both hardware and software.
• Proficiency in Swift, C/C++, and/or Python for systems-level or embedded development.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new technologies, tools, and domains, and to adapt your skillset as project needs evolve.

Nice To Haves

• Proven experience in rapid prototyping — quickly bringing together custom hardware (sensors, actuators, enclosures) and software (firmware, applications, perception) into functional proof-of-concept systems.
• Hands-on fabrication skills including CAD design (e.g., SolidWorks, Fusion 360), 3D printing, and physical prototyping of enclosures and mechanical assemblies.
• Practical electronics experience — comfortable with schematic capture, PCB layout, soldering, and bench debugging of custom circuits and sensor boards.
• Experience with a variety of sensor modalities (e.g., cameras, microphones, depth sensors, IMUs, environmental sensors) and developing perception or signal-processing algorithms.
• Proficiency with embedded systems development, including firmware, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and low-level device drivers.
• Experience applying machine learning (ML) techniques to on-device problems such as perception, sensor fusion, or context-aware behavior.
• Strong UI/UX sensibility — experience building polished, demo-ready interfaces using frameworks such as SwiftUI, UIKit, or equivalent, with a keen eye for detail, animation, and interaction quality.
• Familiarity with home-related technologies such as wireless protocols (Thread, Matter, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth), audio/acoustic systems, or smart environment sensing.
• Experience designing, building, or deploying robotic or electromechanical systems — including motor control, actuation, kinematics, or autonomous behavior.
• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the entire lifecycle of complex prototypes — from initial hardware design and sensor integration to software development and the application of machine learning.
• Rapidly prototyping and validating novel home product concepts.
• Demonstrating the viability and potential of new technologies to senior leadership.
• Building prototypes that are used in high-visibility executive demos.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees