Principal Engineer - Intelligent Navigation Experiences

Join Apple and be part of a community where innovation thrives, creativity flourishes, and diverse perspectives are celebrated. At Apple Maps, we're revolutionizing how navigation integrates seamlessly into people's lives. Picture your work influencing smarter, more intuitive experiences for billions of users around the globe. As a Principal Engineer on the Maps Navigation and Location Services team, you'll help shape the next generation of intelligent navigation experiences. Your work will span critical services that power navigation and location understanding for customers using Apple devices-from iPhone and iPad to Watch, Mac, and CarPlay. You'll tackle complex technical challenges at the intersection of large-scale backend systems, privacy-preserving machine learning, and location intelligence. If you're passionate about building impactful, user-centered experiences at scale, thrive in ambiguity, and want to define the future of intelligent navigation, this is your opportunity to make a meaningful difference.The Maps Navigation and Location Services team builds the backend services that power navigation and location understanding for customers across Apple's devices. Our navigation work spans multiple modalities-from driving and walking to cycling and transit-each presenting unique technical challenges. As an engineer on our team, you'll work on new initiatives to make navigation more intelligent while maintaining Apple's privacy-first approach. You'll design and build scalable backend services and APIs that leverage machine learning to enhance navigation experiences. This role requires someone comfortable driving clarity from ambiguity, defining requirements, and collaborating cross-functionally to align product vision with technical execution. We have a modern development process-analyzing requirements, implementing and experimenting iteratively, and optimizing solutions to deliver exceptional experiences. We support production systems serving millions of requests daily, so occasional support outside standard business hours may be required for on-call duties and critical project needs.MS or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field Experience with machine learning techniques in navigation, location services, or geospatial domains Familiarity with privacy-preserving ML approaches and on-device model deployment Hands-on experience with scalable data architectures and streaming technologies (e.g., Spark, Kafka, Flink) Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and containerization (e.g., AWS, Kubernetes)BS in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field with 12+ years of industry experience Strong experience building large-scale, production-grade applications, services, and customer-facing features for millions of users. Proficiency in modern programming languages such as C++, Java, Scala, Swift, or Rust Solid understanding of algorithms, data structures, and distributed system design Proven ability to lead technical initiatives, mentor engineers, and work effectively in ambiguous, cross-functional environments