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Darwin Runtime Engineer

Yesterday Cupertino, CA

The people here at Apple don't just build products, we build the kind of wonder that revolutionise entire industries. Imagine what you could do here! Do you have a passion for understanding how each line of code affects all the others? In the Core Operating Systems group ensuring the OS is inseparable from each device's identity as a whole. That's because this group is committed to building fully integrated operating systems that combine hardware, software, and apps into a single Apple experience. Your dedication to cross-disciplinary collaboration will help develop groundbreaking technologies, such as iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. By crafting these distinct, complete user experiences, you'll continue to uphold and advance the excellence people expect from Apple devices! The Darwin Runtime team in Core OS is looking for enthusiastic engineers interested in developing low-level system technologies for Apple's operating systems.

Description

The Darwin Runtime team is responsible for building the low-level runtime technologies like Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), secure inter-process communication systems, memory allocator, threading library, and concurrency and synchronization primitives. The team operates at the intersection of operating systems, programming language design, systems security, and high-performance computing. As a Software Engineer on the team, you'll work closely with kernel engineers, security architects, and framework developers to deliver foundational technologies that enable Apple's next-generation computing platforms.The ideal candidate should be self-motivated and effective in operating independently, with a desire to learn and develop technical leadership. Team members are welcome and encouraged to participate in design discussions, code reviews, and development across multiple technologies. Our environment fosters technical innovation, meaningful technology ownership, and a liberating amount of autonomy!

","responsibilities":"You will be responsible for working on a range of technologies that form the foundation of Apple's operating systems. The work would include responsibilities such as:

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Design and implement new features and APIs for Darwin Runtime technologies like GCD, XPC, pthread, and malloc

Design and implement IDL compiler frontend and backend systems, including lexical analysis, parsing, semantic analysis, and code generation for both C and Swift targets

Develop and maintain high-performance runtime libraries that handle secure communication, memory management, and component lifecycle across different execution environments

Optimize code generation, runtime performance, and memory usage to meet strict performance requirements for low-level systems

An engineer in the Secure Runtime team would regularly:

Participate in all phases of software development cycle: from problem definition and design, through implementation, testing, and debugging

Diagnose and resolve issues across different layers of the stack

Work with cross functional teams to enable developer and product requirements

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with compiler design, including lexical analysis, parsing, semantic analysis, and code generation

Knowledge of capability-based security models, sandboxing, and secure IPC mechanisms

Knowledge of operating system implementation, hardware architecture and assembly programming

Knowledge of Swift or Objective-C

Skilled at interface and/or API design

Experience with lldb or gdb

Minimum Qualifications

Passion for low-level system technologies

Fluency in the C programming language

Experience with UNIX-like systems

System design and architecture skills

Strong understanding of operating system fundamentals like threading, synchronization primitives, inter-process communication, scheduling, and virtual memory

Excellent collaborative skills, with the ability to work with a team to design system architecture

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 .

Client-provided location(s): Cupertino, CA
Job ID: apple-200641854-0836_rxr-660
Employment Type: OTHER
Posted: 2026-01-20T19:10:36

Perks and Benefits

  • Health and Wellness

    • Parental Benefits

      • Work Flexibility

        • Office Life and Perks

          • Vacation and Time Off

            • Financial and Retirement

              • Professional Development

                • Diversity and Inclusion

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