Senior Software Engineer in Test - Distributed Systems

Apple Service Engineering is seeking an exceptional Senior Software Engineer in Test to take on a high visibility, high impact role at the center of our next-generation datacenter and Private Cloud Compute initiatives. This is a role for a senior engineer who wants to define how world-class distributed systems are tested, validated, and scaled at one of the most ambitious infrastructure efforts in the industry.

You will be a technical leader and key contributor to the foundation of Apple's future cloud architecture, working directly with the systems that power Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute. You will drive critical testing and validation initiatives across highly performant, energy efficient platforms built on Apple Silicon, and will play a central role in ensuring the quality, reliability, and scalability of next-generation datacenter technology that reaches hundreds of millions of people.

In this highly collaborative and cross-functional role, you will partner with architecture teams, SOC architects, platform engineers, and software teams across Apple to adapt, validate, and scale software on novel compute platforms. If you are a senior engineer who thrives on solving hard problems, owning critical initiatives end-to-end, and building systems that have never been built before, this is the role for you.

DESCRIPTION As a Senior Software Engineer in Test on the Private Cloud Compute team, you will be responsible for driving the test strategy, automation infrastructure, and validation frameworks that underpin some of Apple's most critical and technically complex distributed systems. You will operate at the intersection of hardware and software, working across the full stack to ensure that next-generation datacenter technology is performant, reliable, and ready to scale.

You will be expected to bring senior-level technical leadership to every initiative you own, from defining test architecture to driving resolution of the most complex system-level issues. You will collaborate directly with hardware and platform teams to validate novel compute platforms before they reach production and will build the tooling and automation infrastructure that enables the broader engineering organization to move with speed and confidence.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 10 or more years of experience as a Software Development Engineer in Test or Software Quality Engineer with a track record of owning critical initiatives in complex distributed systems environments. Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field. Scripting and programming proficiency in one or more of the following: C/C++, Golang, Python, or Shell, with the ability to write production quality code and tooling.

Deep expertise in test automation, CI/CD pipeline architecture, and continuous validation in cloud or distributed systems environments. Strong understanding of microservice topologies, distributed system design patterns, and cloud or edge deployment architectures. Hands-on experience with cloud orchestration engines such as Kubernetes, Nomad, Apache Mesos, or equivalent platforms.

Demonstrated ability to triage and drive resolution of complex, cross-functional system failures with a structured, data-driven approach. Excellent communication and collaboration skills with the ability to operate effectively in a highly cross-functional environment across hardware, software, and platform teams. A genuine passion for software architecture, high performance systems, and building extensible, maintainable automation infrastructure.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Experience validating ML or LLM workloads running on hardware accelerators such as GPUs, NPUs, or Apple Silicon in a cloud or datacenter environment. Familiarity with Apple development tools, Swift, or Objective-C. Experience building test infrastructure for systems at the hardware-software boundary, including firmware, drivers, or low-level platform software.

Knowledge of energy efficiency and performance profiling techniques for high performance computing workloads. Experience contributing to or defining test strategy at an organizational level, not just within a single team or product area. Prior experience working in a private cloud, hyperscale datacenter, or edge compute environment.