Sr. Software Engineer, Infrastructure Services (Data Plane)
Apple· Software and Services
Hybrid (San Francisco Bay Area)$184.7k - $324.8kFull-timePosted 1mo ago
About the role
Senior technical role inside Apple IS&T's Infrastructure Services, focusing on high-throughput, low-latency dataplane systems to power virtualized networks, computing, and storage across Apple's global cloud infrastructure.
Responsibilities
- Dataplane Architecture & Development: Design, implement, and optimize high-throughput, ultra-low-latency packet processing systems, forwarding engines, and overlay network services (e.g., VXLAN, Geneve, NAT, Load Balancing).
- System Design & High-Performance Coding: Build modular, resilient, and performant systems leveraging efficient data structures, lock-free concurrency, and hardware/software acceleration.
- Control Plane Integration: Collaborate closely with control plane and distributed systems teams to build clean, performant APIs (gRPC, REST) for state distribution and policy enforcement.
- Operational Excellence & Incident Triage: Maintain line-of-sight on production health; debug live incidents using packet captures, telemetry, metrics, and logs to identify root cause and implement long-term mitigations.
- Automation & Delivery: Utilize modern CI/CD, Git workflows, and configuration management tools to reliably deliver software against bold deadlines.
Qualifications
- Strong proficiency in systems programming languages such as C++, Go, or C (experience with Java or modern scripting languages like Python is also valued).
- Solid foundation in Computer Science fundamentals: advanced data structures, algorithms, memory management, and concurrency.
- Deep knowledge of Networking Fundamentals & Dataplane internals: L2–L4 protocols, TCP/IP stack behavior, packet framing/encapsulation, routing, MTU/MSS, flow tables, and QoS/traffic shaping.
- Experience with source control (Git) and modern build/configuration management tools.
- Experience designing and optimizing scalable network data plane components, packet forwarding paths, or kernel/userspace networking subsystems.
- Understanding of microservice architectures, asynchronous communication, and API design (REST, gRPC, Protobuf).
- Proven ability to analyze and debug complex live production incidents under pressure using metrics, traces, and system logs.
- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills with the drive to take ownership and lead projects to closure.
Skills
Required:C++NetworkingData plane technologies
Nice to have:GoC
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
- Retirement benefits
- Discounted products and free services
- Educational reimbursement (tuition)
- Discretionary bonuses or commission potential
- Relocation assistance (where applicable)
- Apple Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Apple stock through discretionary RSU awards (where eligible)
Last updated Sep 18, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Apple
Discover the innovative world of Apple and shop everything iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, plus explore accessories, entertainment, and expert device support.
Discover the innovative world of Apple and shop everything iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, plus explore accessories, entertainment, and expert device support.
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