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Machine Learning Research Engineer

Apple

Seattle, WAFull-timeSeen 1w agoSeen in employer's feed 1w ago

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At a glance

Compensation
No compensation found
Location
Seattle, WA
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive focuses on jobs in the United States, including remote roles you can work from there.

Job overview

Apple’s Human and Object Understanding team is seeking a Machine Learning Research Engineer to develop AI/ML models for multimodal human sensing, with a focus on cross-domain identity recognition. The role involves applied research on visual human traits and foundation models, supporting experiences across Apple platforms. Candidates need a strong foundation in machine learning and computer vision; expertise in facial analysis and experience with multimodal models or on-device ML are preferred.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Machine Learning, requiredComputer Vision, requiredDeep Learning Models, requiredVision Tasks, requiredModern ML Architectures, requiredPython, requiredPyTorch, requiredFace Recognition, nice to haveFacial Analysis, nice to haveBiometric Systems, nice to haveMultimodal LLMs, nice to haveVision-Language Models, nice to haveOn-Device ML, nice to haveModel Optimization, nice to haveKnowledge Distillation, nice to haveQuantization, nice to havePruning, nice to haveProduction-Grade ML Pipelines, nice to have

Qualifications

Master's or Ph.D. In CS or Related Fields or Equivalent Experience, requiredResearch and Development Experience, requiredResearch and Innovation Track Record, requiredPublications, Patents, or Impactful Software Developments, required

Full job description

Weekly Hours: 40

Role Number: 200692644-3337

Summary

The Human and Object Understanding team (HOUr) in the Intelligent System Experience (ISE) organization is looking for Research Engineers with a strong foundation in Machine Learning and Computer Vision to develop the next generation of multi-modal Human Sensing technologies. You will be part of a fast-paced, impact-driven Applied Research organization building foundation models for facial and full-body perception and working on cutting-edge machine learning that is at the heart of the most loved features on Apple platforms including Apple Intelligence, Camera, Photos, Visual Intelligence, etc.

Description

As a Machine Learning Research Engineer, you will be responsible for designing and developing cutting-edge AI/ML models for Human Sensing, with a focus on building robust cross-domain identity recognition systems. Multi-modal Human Sensing is a foundational capability that powers intelligent experiences based on key human traits such as identity, expression, clothing, action, gesture, gaze and human-object interaction. Major Apple Intelligence experiences such as personalized Natural Language Search, Memories Creation, as well as personalized Image Generation are powered by our ability to learn robust representations of visual human traits. Efficient real-time visual human sensing powers flagship Photography experiences such as Cinematic mode and Photographic Styles, communication experiences such as Center Stage, and paves the way for more natural human-device interactions, e.g., with the DockKit framework.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related fields, or equivalent professional experience in Computer Vision (CV) and Machine Learning (ML) research and development.

  • Proven track record of training, fine-tuning and evaluating deep learning models for vision tasks using modern ML architectures.

  • Background in research and innovation, demonstrated through publications in top-tier journals or conferences, patents, or impactful software developments.

  • Proficient in Python, PyTorch or equivalent deep learning frameworks.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Expert-level knowledge of state-of-the-art methods in face recognition or other facial analysis and biometric systems.

  • Hands-on experience training and scaling multi-modal large language models (LLMs) or large-scale vision-language models (VLMs)

  • Experience with on-device ML, model optimization (knowledge distillation, quantization, pruning), or production-grade ML pipelines.

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.

How this job compares

Set against the 1,128 open Research Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 13, 2026.

Pay
  • This postingNot listed
  • Washington median$141–226K/yr49 salary ranges
Openings
Olive Jobs lists 63 open Research Engineer jobs in Washington and 1,128 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Washington
Experience
Research Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 3 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 2 to 5 years (690 postings).
Education
330 of the 1,128 open Research Engineer jobs (29%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 13, 2026. Figures based on too few postings are left out.

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