Senior Software Engineer — Video ; FX Plug API’s

Senior Software Engineer — Video Applications (FX Plug API’s)

Cupertino, California, United States Software and Services

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. That happens because every one of us shares a belief that we can make something wonderful and share it with the world, changing lives for the better.

It’s the diversity of our people and their thinking that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do. When we bring everybody in, we can do the best work of our lives. Here, you’ll do more than join something — you’ll add something. The Video Applications team delivers an integrated suite of professional video creation applications — including Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Compressor — as part of Apple Creator Studio.

We are seeking a strong Senior Software Engineer to empower our 3rd party development community by designing robust APIs that extend the capabilities of our applications, and providing technical support to our 3rd party developers.

As a Senior Software Engineer on the Motion team, you’ll be the bridge between the core engineering team and our 3rd party developer ecosystem. You’ll design and develop new FxPlug APIs that enable developers to create powerful new effects for Final Cut Pro and Motion, as well as maintaining the existing FxPlug APIs. You'll own the developer experience end‑to‑end—from API design to community engagement.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who thrives on solving complex problems by creating clear and consistent developer‑facing interfaces.

• Design and implement robust, well‑documented FxPlug APIs that enable 3rd party developers to extend the capabilities of our applications
• Diagnose and debug integration issues with our applications and the FxPlug APIs
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in the implementation of the FxPlug APIs
• Maintain existing FxPlug APIs and their implementation.
• Write automated tests to exercise the FxPlug APIs
• Write clean, testable code
• Participate in code reviews, both giving and receiving feedback
• Create and maintain FxPlug API documentation and sample code
• Provide technical support and guidance to 3rd party developers, including communicating directly with them and helping them with troubleshooting
• Prioritize FxPlug API improvements by balancing 3rd party developer needs as well as Apple’s own roadmap

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent
• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience with a focus on application‑level and framework development
• Experience designing and maintaining public APIs or SDKs for external developers
• 3+ years proficiency in Objective‑C and/or Swift
• 3+ years deep experience with macOS development and Apple frameworks
• Advanced understanding of concurrency and cross‑process communication
• Proven ability to write clear, maintainable code with excellent documentation
• Strong communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Experience working on complex, long‑lived codebases
• Familiarity with motion graphics and image processing algorithms and their implementation.

• Experience designing and implementing Swift APIs
• Strong programming skills in Swift and Objective‑C
• Hands‑on experience with concurrency APIs and algorithms
• Experience working in sandboxed or security‑sensitive environments

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. It provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $181,100 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…