Applied Research Scientist, Proactive Intelligence — Personal and Agentic Search

As an Applied Research Scientist on our team, you will design and implement ML algorithms that process data in different Apple products. You will train and fine-tune generative models and agentic systems, design the evaluation methodology and ground-truth surfaces that measure their quality, and build the causal-analysis tooling that explains why agents fail and how to fix them.

Where necessary, you will integrate ML frameworks into our products and leverage cloud services for scalable training, evaluation, and ablation pipelines across locales. You will communicate advanced ideas to a focused team of researchers in the spirit of developing innovative tools and metrics that change the way we look at problems.

You will work closely with other cross-functional teams to align messaging, contribute to roadmaps and contribute software back into different repos for proper integration with core systems.You will write clean, maintainable and production code with appropriate documentation and tests. You will contribute to architecture decisions, design reviews and peer code reviews!

Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++ with 6+ years of experience in using these languages for machine learning (ML) modeling and applied research
M.S. or PhD in Computer Science, or a related fields such as Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics or equivalent experience. A minimum of 6 years of experience in applied ML and/or product development.
Fundamental knowledge of ML concepts and hands-on experience in building deep-learning systems
Strong software engineering skills to create scalable and robust infrastructure for machine-learning data, modeling and evaluation systems
Proven ability to train and debug machine-learning systems: defining metrics and datasets, performing error analysis and training models in a modern ML framework

Familiarity with researching current ML literature and math including optimization methods and modeling techniques
Passionate about building extraordinary personal and agentic search experiences powered by Generative AI
Creative, collaborative and project focused with an ability to work hands-on in multi-functional teams
Experience designing LLM-as-Judge methodologies, ground-truth datasets, and diagnostic tooling for generative systems
Proficiency in using ML toolkits such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, SkLearn etc.

AI represents a big opportunity to elevate Apple’s products and experiences for billions of people globally. We are looking for Applied Research Scientists with a background and interest in Agentic Systems. You will be leveraging state-of-the-art Generative models to ship extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences for the iPhone, Mac, Apple Watch, iPad and more.

The mission of Proactive Intelligence is to improve Apple platforms by better understanding, anticipating and adapting to user behavior by using machine learning to build phenomenal features that are built right into Apple platforms. Our team provides an opportunity to be part of an incredible research and engineering organization within Apple. The ideal candidate will have industry experience across a range of modeling problems relevant to LLM-powered search and agentic systems, including Training and Fine-Tuning Large Language Models (LLMs), Learning from Human Preferences, LLM-based Evaluation and Judging, Retrieval and Planning, and Causal Analysis of Model Failures.

Working knowledge of large-scale data processing especially with structured data, probabilistic modeling and statistics will broaden your role and effectiveness in this position.
This role contributes directly to Personal Search and Agentic Search inside Siri — the capabilities that let users reason over their own data and act on it through natural conversation.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $181,100 and $318,400, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace

Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.