Engineering Manager, Data Protection - FoundationDB

Cupertino, California, United States Software and Services

At Apple, iCloud and Apple Services Engineering (ASE) build and operate the platforms that power critical customer experiences across a globally distributed ecosystem. iCloud's Foundation DB team is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead data protection systems for one of the most advanced distributed databases in production today. Foundation DB powers Apple’s most critical cloud services, and this role is central to ensuring data durability, integrity, availability, and cost‑efficient storage at massive scale.

This role focuses on building and evolving Foundation DB’s data protection capabilities, including fast backup and restore, change‑data‑capture, tiered storage systems, and client‑facing APIs. You will lead efforts to create highly available backup systems that can also serve as active replicas for online workloads, significantly improving availability and storage efficiency. This work sits at the intersection of database internals, storage engines, and distributed execution.

• Lead and grow an engineering team responsible for Foundation DB backup, restore, and data protection systems.
• Design and implement scalable, highly available backup and restore architectures.
• Drive development of tiered storage systems and CDC pipelines that support both recovery and online use.
• Ensure strong data integrity guarantees across transactional and replicated systems.
• Partner with core database, storage, and client teams to integrate data protection seamlessly into Foundation DB.
• Improve performance, reliability, and cost efficiency of large‑scale backup storage systems.
• Set technical direction while maintaining high engineering quality and operational rigor.

• 3+ years of people management experience leading software engineering teams.
• Strong background in distributed systems and storage technologies.
• Experience with backup, restore, or replicated storage systems at scale.
• Experience directly supporting or owning online production systems or customer‑deployed production systems.
• Solid understanding of transactional systems and data integrity principles.
• Experience working with RocksDB or similar storage engines.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to lead complex technical initiatives.

• Experience designing or operating large‑scale backup and recovery systems.
• Familiarity with change‑data‑capture and data replication pipelines.
• Experience with parallel task execution, scheduling, or distributed workflows.
• Background in database internals or storage engine development.
• Experience balancing reliability, performance, and cost in production systems.

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 $237,600 and $356,400, 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.

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

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.