Senior Manager, Engineering Program Management - Strategic Data Solutions (Machine Learning)

Summary

Apple's Strategic Data Solutions (SDS) team builds applied machine learning and analytical solutions with direct, measurable impact across Apple and its customers. Our teams combine machine learning, software engineering, data analytics, and data annotation and labeling to turn complex business problems into scalable, trusted systems, with a high bar for quality, privacy, and operational excellence.

Description

We are looking for a senior Engineering Program Management leader to guide program strategy and execution for the SDS Machine Learning organization across multiple lines of business and geographies. You will lead high-functioning teams of managers across multiple functions, own strategic roadmaps, and build the operating rhythms that help a large, cross-functional group succeed. You will influence at the executive level and across global teams. Do you thrive at the intersection of technical complexity and strategic thinking? Join us to build solutions that protect, optimize, and empower Apple.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow high-functioning teams of managers across multiple functions, and attract and develop diverse, world-class people leaders
• Build a culture where values guide decisions, people are put first, and innovation drives quality results
• Communicate with humility and curiosity, creating an environment where people feel safe to share feedback openly
• Own the strategic roadmap for SDS Machine Learning programs across multiple lines of business, aligning priorities across functions to balance impact, cost, resourcing, timeline, and risk
• Anticipate how Generative AI and automation will change the work, and drive tooling evolution, automation strategy, and active learning pipelines
• Build clear operating models, processes, and accountability across teams and lines of business
• Influence and align across multiple geographies and areas of the business, working across time zones and cultures to ensure shared priorities and clear decision-making
• Partner with engineering, business, and operations leaders across SDS and partner organizations to drive programs from inception through delivery and ongoing monitoring
• Define business-critical metrics and success measures, ensuring the health and performance of programs and models in production
• Influence executive leadership by communicating strategy, progress, and risks, and by shaping decisions across technical and business audiences
• Identify risks early and bring structure and clarity to ambiguity and competing priorities
• Drive process improvement and innovation across the organization
• Operate with autonomy, exercising sound judgment and knowing when to escalate

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in an analytical, quantitative, or technical field (engineering, math, computer science, finance, analytics, statistics, or similar), or equivalent experience
• 9+ years leading large, cross-functional technical or analytical programs, including 5+ years of people management, managing managers and leading large or multidisciplinary organizations
• Experience with data and data analytics, including using data to tell compelling stories, advocate for solutions, and influence senior leaders
• Proven ability to build, manage, and develop high-functioning teams and people leaders, and to motivate others to do their best work
• Demonstrated ability to influence at the executive level and drive change across colleagues, senior leadership, and business partners
• Experience influencing and aligning globally distributed teams across geographies, time zones, and cultures
• Experience leading business discovery, defining problem statements, and guiding analytic approaches, including outside your core expertise
• Ability to evaluate complex engineering and analytic issues in depth
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities and facilitate sound recommendations despite ambiguity
• Clear, confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills, able to move between technical detail and executive audiences and build close relationships across SDS and partner teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree (MS or MBA) in a quantitative, technical, or business field, or equivalent professional experience
• Experience leading programs that deliver machine learning or Generative AI solutions, with the technical fluency to evaluate tradeoffs and communicate them to senior leadership
• Experience leading programs across the full machine learning lifecycle, from data preparation, annotation, and labeling through model development, deployment, and monitoring
• Familiarity with data pipelines, large-scale machine learning systems, and data platforms, and how they shape timelines, dependencies, and cost
• Inquisitive mindset with a drive for continued self-improvement and development of new skills