Sr Engineering Program Manager, Evaluation - Special Projects

Cupertino, California, United States Software and Services

Apple's Special Projects team is seeking a Senior Engineering Program Manager (EPM) to lead our AI evaluation framework at the forefront of next-generation AI experiences. This is a highly visible role where you'll drive the strategic direction for how we measure and validate AI model performance across modalities.

You will organize and lead teams to architect our evaluation methodology, translating ambiguous product requirements into concrete success metrics that determine if our models meet Apple's quality bar. Your work will directly influence product roadmaps and drive critical hill-climbing decisions that shape the AI experiences millions of users will interact with daily.

This role requires mastery of both technical depth in ML evaluation and the ability to influence across teams at the executive level. You'll lead complex, high-stakes programs while mentoring teams and establishing best practices that will define Apple's approach to AI quality.

Description

As the EPM for Evaluation, you will be responsible for :

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Vision
• Partner with technical teams to define and drive the evaluation strategy for Apple's AI models, influencing product roadmaps and technology investments.
• Partner with stakeholders to align evaluation frameworks with product vision and business objectives.
• Technical Program Management
• Develop end-to-end programs to measure and validate performance of state-of-the-art multi-modal models.
• Drive consensus on subjective quality metrics, establishing clear success criteria for ambiguous use cases.
• Orchestrate complex data collection initiatives, simulation infrastructure, and evaluation pipelines.
• Deliver process improvements that increase efficiency across the broader organization.
• Cross-functional Leadership
• Coordinate distributed teams across design, research, engineering, and operations.
• Communicate complex technical concepts and program status directly to executive leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of technical program management experience, with at least 3 years leading complex AI/ML programs.
• Proven track record of delivering complex programs by defining clear requirements and driving engineering teams to successful outcomes.
• Experience influencing and driving decisions at Director/VP level.
• Strong ability to navigate ambiguity and lead teams through uncertainty while maintaining program momentum.
• Excellence in executive communication - ability to distill complex technical information with the right balance of detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or related quantitative field.
• Deep hands-on experience with large language models (LLMs), vision-language models (VLMs), and multi-modal architectures.
• Demonstrated mastery of ML concepts, evaluation methodologies, and the end-to-end model development lifecycle.
• Experience with reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) and preference optimization.
• Expertise in statistical analysis, A/B testing, and experimental design at scale.

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 $175,500 and $311,700, 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…