← All roles

Senior ML Researcher: Multimodal LLM Post-Training

Apple· Software and Services
Apply on company site
Hybrid (Cupertino, California), Hybrid (San Diego, California), Hybrid (Seattle, Washington)$184.7k - $324.8kFull-timePosted 1w ago

About the role

Senior ML Researcher focusing on foundation model post-training (SFT, RL) with multimodal capabilities. Research, design, and deliver models that balance cutting-edge ML techniques with real-world product impact, collaborating with researchers, engineers, and product teams to enhance creator workflows through generative AI and human-centered design.

Responsibilities

  • Formulate hypotheses for a use case
  • Define data collection and annotation
  • Build evaluations of model capabilities
  • Apply SFT, advanced reward modeling, RL techniques, and distillation to develop and improve the post-training recipe
  • Execute experiments, validate results, and communicate findings to the broader team
  • Contribute to post-training process across stages from data to deployment

Qualifications

  • MS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
  • Minimum 4+ years of research experience in Multi-Modal LLM training and evaluation
  • Proven track record in multimodal SFT plus at least one of distillation, preference optimization, or online RL, backed by shipped models or rigorous experiments
  • Strong programming skills in Python and at least one deep learning framework, such as JAX or PyTorch
  • Ability to translate problem statements into dataset requirements, neural network design, and loss functions
  • PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
  • Experience in GRPO, DPO, Vision-OPD, and visual-token compression
  • Publications in top-tier ML conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV)
  • Bonus: Experience in quantization, on-device models and SLM (Small Language Model)

Skills

Required:PythonJAX or PyTorchDataset design and annotation

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical and dental coverage
  • retirement benefits
  • discounted products and free services
  • reimbursement for educational expenses including tuition
  • discretionary bonuses or commission payments may be available
  • relocation assistance
  • Apple shareholder opportunities through stock programs
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Last updated Oct 16, 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.

AirPods Max 2Apple ArcadeApple CardApple Fitness+Apple MusicApple TVApple TV+Apple Watch Series 11
Company profileWebsite

More open roles at Apple