Sr Performance Engineer, Retail and Marcom Engineering
Apple is where individual imaginations gather together, committing to the values that lead to great work. Every new product we build, service we create, or Apple Store experience we deliver is the result of us making each other's ideas stronger.
Apple Retail Engineering team builds the software systems that power all the magical experiences we offer to our Store customers, be it digital or in-person. Retail Engineering Foundations group focuses on developer productivity, runtime environments, and common frameworks & platforms for all Retail Engineering teams.
As a Performance Engineer, you'll design and optimize foundational frameworks, platforms, and systems that Apple engineers rely on every day. You'll establish performance standards and best practices across Retail Engineering, leading technical decisions that improve system scalability, efficiency, and reliability. You'll play a critical role in planning for and managing performance during Apple's largest retail events, ensuring our systems gracefully handle unprecedented traffic. Through mentoring and partnerships with engineering teams, you'll elevate performance practices across the organization while exploring all the ways to improve system performance throughout the software development lifecycle.
Description
As a Performance Engineer, you will architect, design, implement, optimize, and govern performance characteristics of infrastructure and frameworks for DevOps, CI/CD, runtime environments, service discovery, API gateways, observability, and other foundational components of cloud-based, globally-distributed systems.
You will take ownership of performance-critical initiatives, from analysis and planning to optimization strategy and guiding teams through adoption of performance best practices. You will work collaboratively with Retail Engineering teams, platform owners, and infrastructure teams to identify performance bottlenecks, architect scalability solutions, and establish performance baselines, goals, and service level objectives for mission-critical systems.
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You will lead capacity planning and performance readiness efforts for major retail events, working cross-functionally to forecast traffic patterns, stress-test systems, and implement mitigation strategies that ensure uninterrupted service during peak demand periods.","responsibilities":"Establish the vision and roadmap for performance excellence across Retail Engineering
Define performance governance frameworks including SLOs, error budgets, and technical debt strategies
Lead cross-functional tradeoff discussions between performance, cost, security, and maintainability
Influence architectural decisions across Apple organizations and establish standards that teams adopt
Mentor engineers across Retail Engineering teams on performance best practices and optimization techniques
Partner with engineering teams to identify and solve performance challenges
Develop and lead adoption of performance engineering best practices across multiple teams
Preferred Qualifications
15+ years of progressive experience with demonstrated depth in multiple domains: distributed systems architecture, performance optimization at scale, infrastructure platforms, DevOps/SRE, or cloud systems architecture
Track record of building and developing high-performing teams
Experience with performance governance frameworks, SLOs, error budgets, and technical debt management
Deep expertise in observability architecture, distributed database design, edge/CDN systems, or real-time systems
Understanding of cost optimization and infrastructure efficiency alongside performance
Experience with open source projects related to infrastructure or distributed systems
Experience establishing performance benchmarks and metrics frameworks
Familiarity with auto-scaling strategies, traffic routing, and graceful degradation patterns
Proven ability to analyze complex system performance issues, design optimization solutions, and implement measurable improvements
Knowledge of container orchestration and deployment efficiency best practices
Understanding of compliance and security concepts and their performance tradeoffs
Experience with capacity planning, load forecasting, and stress testing for high-traffic scenarios
Demonstrated ability to influence and drive adoption across teams without direct authority
Experience presenting technical findings and recommendations to senior leadership
Minimum Qualifications
B.S. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent professional work experience. Graduate degrees preferred.
12+ years of professional experience in software, infrastructure, or platform engineering roles
8+ years of hands-on experience analyzing, optimizing, and architecting performance improvements in large-scale, distributed systems
5+ years of hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, Infrastructure-as-Code, containerized application deployment, and orchestration technologies
Proficiency in at least two programming languages with demonstrated expertise in performance optimization, concurrency, and memory management
Understanding of relational and NoSQL databases, query optimization, and performance implications in distributed systems
Knowledge of networking concepts and their performance characteristics
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 .
Pay & Benefits
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 $212,000 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.
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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