AI​/ML Engineer, Applied Data Science

Cupertino, California, United States Corporate Functions

Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there's no telling what you could accomplish.

Are you passionate about taking AI from prototype to production at scale? Do you enjoy the craft of prompt engineering, retrieval optimization, and grounding? Can you build AI systems that are not just impressive demos, but reliable production tools? The Applied Data Science team within Legal Operations is building production-grade AI for a global legal organization. The AI/ML Engineer role is central to this mission — prototyping AI solutions, then scaling them to production systems that attorneys rely on every day.

The AI/ML Engineer builds AI capabilities from prototype to production. You will develop prompt engineering solutions, RAG pipelines, AI agents, and evaluation frameworks — starting with rapid prototypes to validate use cases, then engineering them into scalable, production-grade systems. This role requires both the creativity to explore what's possible and the rigor to build what's reliable.

• Prototype AI solutions to rapidly validate use cases and demonstrate feasibility
• Scale successful prototypes into production-grade systems with reliability, monitoring, and maintainability
• Implement prompt engineering solutions optimized for legal use cases
• Build and optimize RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines using vector databases and knowledge graphs
• Develop context engineering approaches that leverage the semantic layer for improved accuracy
• Implement grounding mechanisms to reduce hallucinations and improve factual accuracy
• Build evaluation frameworks to measure AI accuracy, relevance, and safety across use cases
• Integrate AI capabilities with legal workflows (CLM, matter management, eBilling)
• Develop AI agent solutions for automation use cases across legal operations
• Implement guardrails and safety mechanisms for production AI systems
• Collaborate with AI Architect on system design and technical standards
• Support AI Product Developers with APIs, integration patterns, and technical guidance

• 4+ years of delivering solutions in AI/ML engineering, NLP, or related roles
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, Tensor Flow, or similar)
• Experience with LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, or similar)
• Experience with RAG architectures and vector databases
• Understanding of prompt engineering techniques and best practices
• Experience taking AI systems from prototype to production
• Experience with evaluation frameworks for AI systems
• Supporting AI applications in production

• Experience with Lang Chain, Llama Index, or similar LLM orchestration frameworks
• Experience with agentic AI frameworks (Lang Graph, CrewAI, or similar)
• Familiarity with knowledge graphs and GraphRAG patterns
• Experience with AI evaluation tools (RAGAS, Deep Eval, or similar)
• Knowledge of legal domain and legal NLP applications
• Experience with guardrails and safety frameworks (Guardrails AI, NeMo Guardrails)
• Understanding of MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar integration patterns
• Experience deploying and monitoring AI systems at scale
• Track record of shipping AI products that users rely on

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 $263,800, 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…