Systems Architect

Apple • San Jose, CA

1d

About The Position

Apple’s Ecosystem Products & Technologies team is seeking a product-focused Systems Architect to help create great user experiences and high-quality products. The team develops products that integrate with Apple’s Home, iPad, iPhone, Watch, Mac, and Vision Pro portfolio, extending the Apple user experience through close integration between accessories and Apple devices.

The Systems Architect will lead and drive system technical designs and roadmaps, evaluating architectural and implementation trade-offs such as power and performance in thermally constrained systems. The role involves analyzing hardware and data flows, defining requirements, and communicating options and recommendations while working through ambiguity. The architect will partner with multidisciplinary and cross-functional teams to develop accessories and features, translate user-facing experiences into enabling technologies, and guide product features from concept through execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a similar field.
• 10 years of interdisciplinary engineering expertise related to consumer electronics or embedded systems, including firmware, hardware/electrical, and/or mechanical engineering.
• 5 years of experience developing consumer products from concept to production as a system integrator.
• Solid understanding of hardware/software interaction and mechanical constraints.
• Ability to develop and maintain product-specific system-level requirements and specifications for hardware, software/firmware, and mechanical subsystems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including producing clear, concise engineering specifications and presenting to engineering leadership.
• Ability to build relationships with cross-functional teams and exert effective influence.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a similar field.
• 10 years of product development experience in a matrix organization, preferably in high-volume consumer products.
• 3 years of experience as a technical lead or engineering manager.
• History of shipping interoperability and ecosystem features.
• Expertise in SoC architecture, low-power design, hardware/software interfaces, bus protocols such as USB and I2C, and wireless interfaces such as Bluetooth/BLE, NFC, Wi-Fi, and Thread.
• Working knowledge of hardware/software interaction, operating systems, compute workload estimation, and thermal and power controls in modern SoCs.
• Previous exposure to PCB technologies, signal integrity considerations, and coexistence/desense mitigation.
• Ability to think strategically while driving tactical details.
• Systems-thinking mindset with attention to interface definitions and edge cases.
• Experience working with teams of diverse technical backgrounds and quickly seeking and integrating their knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Work with multidisciplinary teams to design and launch new accessories and features.
• Decompose user-facing features, experiences, and functions into associated enabling technologies.
• Identify architectural options, analyze engineering trade-offs, and recommend approaches that meet product goals.
• Work cross-functionally to understand the existing portfolio of technologies, derive capabilities and cost functions, and construct end-to-end product solutions.
• Define and author system-level feature descriptions and detailed functional requirements.
• Guide product features from idea and concept through execution.
• Review, influence, and challenge architectural trade-offs using data and innovative ideas.

What This Job Offers

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