Systems Design Engineer

Apple • San Diego, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Apple is hiring a Systems Design Engineer in San Diego, California. The role works with hardware and software development teams and other cross-functional groups to identify issues affecting cellular performance. It evaluates unreleased Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch hardware, in field scenarios from early prototypes through final products across different network and wireless technologies. Work includes creating and evolving performance metrics, processing and analyzing device logs, and performing end-to-end cellular technology testing.

The engineer prepares test plans, conducts field testing, analyzes logs, investigates issues across hardware and system components, and tests devices against network infrastructure across GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G. The role collects performance metrics, verifies functional stability, updates validation databases, and provides periodic reports and comprehensive log-based analysis. It identifies and roots out issues at protocol layers such as PHY, MAC, RLC, and PDCP, as well as at higher application layers; creates issue tickets and supplies logs and analysis to cross-functional teams; participates in design reviews and technical meetings; and drives issues to closure with development teams. The position is 40 hours per week.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or foreign equivalent in Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience and/or education using wireless communications knowledge to test Apple product performance across cellular technologies, including GSM, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G, in field scenarios.
• Experience and/or education implementing digital signal processing knowledge to design, develop, and validate test plans related to wireless features.
• Experience and/or education diagnosing and resolving issues in protocol layers, including PHY, PDCP, and MAC, using device-side log analysis.
• Experience and/or education using Python to develop scripts for efficient field-test log analysis and root-cause investigation of real-world device issues.
• Experience and/or education identifying and isolating field-testing issues using wireless protocol and RF log analysis tools to drive root-cause resolution.
• Experience and/or education applying wireless communications skills to develop, test, and optimize cellular products and features.
• Experience and/or education applying maximum likelihood, MAP estimation, channel estimation, and hypothesis testing to characterize wireless channel behavior, assess signal quality degradation, identify anomalous channel conditions, and investigate multipath fading and delay spread issues from field-captured device-side RF logs.
• Proficiency in MATLAB and Python-based machine learning, with hands-on experience developing supervised learning models, regression pipelines, and anomaly-detection algorithms.
• Experience and/or education applying stochastic process modeling, power spectral density analysis, autocorrelation techniques, and statistical channel models, alongside SNR/BER statistical analysis, to characterize noise, interference distributions, and signal impairments in wireless device field logs and develop link-quality optimization recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with hardware and software development teams and cross-functional groups to identify issues affecting cellular performance.
• Evaluate unreleased iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch hardware in field scenarios, from early prototypes through final products, across network and wireless technologies.
• Create and evolve performance metrics and perform post-processing and analysis of device logs collected in the field.
• Prepare test plans and conduct end-to-end cellular technology testing, including field testing, log analysis, and deep-dive root-cause analysis of hardware and system issues.
• Test devices against network infrastructure across GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE, and 5G technologies; collect key performance metrics and verify functional stability.
• Update test databases with validation results and provide periodic reports.
• Analyze collected logs using various tools and identify issues at protocol layers such as PHY, MAC, RLC, and PDCP, or at higher application layers.
• Create issue tickets and provide logs and analysis to cross-functional teams to support timely bug resolution.
• Participate in design reviews and technical meetings to gather information for future validation activities and provide validation considerations.
• Drive issues to closure in close partnership with development teams.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage.
• Retirement benefits.
• Discounted products and free services.
• Tuition reimbursement for certain educational expenses related to advancing a career at Apple.
• Opportunity to participate in discretionary employee stock programs, including restricted stock unit awards and discounted stock purchases through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan, subject to eligibility and program terms.
• The role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments.
• The role might be eligible for relocation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time