Sr. Software Engineer - Distributed Storage

Apple • Cupertino, CA

1d

About The Position

Apple Services Engineering (ASE) builds systems that power customer-facing services including iCloud, iTunes, Siri, and Maps. The team is developing a highly reliable, self-managing, scalable storage layer for exabyte-scale data and diverse access patterns. This layer will also support adoption and optimization of next-generation storage devices.

The role focuses on a unified storage abstraction layer that will underpin Apple’s distributed object, block, and future file storage systems. It will provide a consistent API and metadata model, scalable data distribution, and a high-performance I/O path for workloads running in Apple Cloud. The engineer will work on systems that manage data objects, placement, redundancy, and I/O operations across thousands of nodes, while helping unify heterogeneous storage backends behind an extensible abstraction.

The work includes designing metadata services, scalable distribution algorithms, replication and fault-recovery mechanisms, and client-side libraries and protocols. Components are intended to support self-healing, automatic rebalancing, and high-throughput, low-latency access. The role also contributes to the long-term technical strategy for Apple’s storage platform.

Requirements

• Strong problem-solving skills rooted in data structures, distributed systems, and concurrency.
• At least 7 years of professional experience building and operating distributed systems.
• Demonstrated ownership and a history of delivering production systems.
• Proficiency in one or more systems languages, such as Java or Rust.
• Experience with asynchronous and thread-safe programming.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A BS in Computer Science or equivalent experience.

Nice To Haves

• Background in object, block, or file system internals.
• Experience with modern storage devices, such as zoned block devices, sequential-write media, or emerging high-density magnetic recording technologies.
• An MS in Computer Science.

Responsibilities

• Design and build a storage substrate that provides a consistent abstraction over heterogeneous storage backends.
• Build scalable data distribution and placement algorithms to balance load and ensure durability.
• Implement redundancy mechanisms, such as replication and erasure coding, and automated recovery.
• Collaborate with storage teams to ensure unified semantics and operational consistency.
• Collaborate with hardware engineering to integrate evolving drive capabilities into the unified storage layer.
• Contribute to system observability, correctness testing, chaos and fault-injection frameworks, and production hardening.
• Drive cross-functional design reviews and help define the long-term technical strategy for Apple’s storage platform.
• Design metadata services and develop client-side libraries and protocols for a uniform interface across workloads.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior