Sr Manager - Infrastructure, SRE, & AI Platforms - Services Special Projects

Role Number: 200681287Team: Software and ServicesLocation: CupertinoWeekly Hours: 40Posted: 2026-09-16SummaryWe are looking to hire a Senior Infrastructure, SRE & AI Platforms Manager to help set the long-term technical strategy, organizational structure, and operational roadmap for global, mission-critical infrastructure platforms on the Services Special Projects team.This position requires a rare blend of deep technical domain expertise—spanning distributed systems, Kubernetes, and AI workload orchestration—and proven organizational leadership managing large, globally distributed engineering teams.DescriptionIn this role, you will be responsible for defining and building infrastructure strategy that balances continuous innovation with high reliability, performance, and cost efficiency. You will lead a growing, multi-tiered team of engineers who are responsible for foundational platforms that power large-scale consumer and enterprise workloads.Beyond operational delivery, you will establish standards for operational excellence, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), and capacity planning. You will be a key strategic partner, translating complex business imperatives into scalable platform designs while cultivating a strong engineering culture focused on automation, technical ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement.Minimum QualificationsMS Degree in Computer Science or related degree and 12+ years of experience of progressive engineering leadership experience building, scaling, and operating mission-critical infrastructure platforms and global services.Management & Leadership Scope: 6+ years managing multi-layered engineering organizations (manager-of-managers) with a proven track record of hiring, developing, and retaining top-tier technical talent across global sites.Cloud & Distributed Compute Expertise: Demonstrated hands-on and architectural mastery of cloud-native infrastructure, Kubernetes platform engineering, and hybrid cloud operations (AWS, GCP, private data centers).Accelerated Computing & AI Infrastructure: Direct operational and architectural experience running large-scale systems for AI/ML training and inference workloads, including utilization optimization, scheduling, and high-performance storage/networking.SRE & Production Operations: Deep background in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles, telemetry, observability frameworks, disaster recovery, and managing 24/7 high-availability infrastructure at scale.Technical Communication: Exceptional ability to seamlessly bridge executive strategy and low-level technical trade-offs—communicating vision to executive stakeholders while driving detailed technical discussions with principal engineers.Preferred QualificationsLarge-Scale Enterprise Provenance: Experience leading core infrastructure or foundational platform SRE for a global, tier-1 technology organization operating at massive scale.Multi-Engine Database & Data Infrastructure: Familiarity overseeing diverse open-source and proprietary storage/data ecosystems (e.g., Cassandra, FoundationDB, Kafka, Redis, PostgreSQL).Financial & Capacity Governance: Proven competency managing large-scale infrastructure investments, capital expenditures, operational budgets, capacity forecasting, and cloud optimization strategies.Pay & BenefitsAt 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 $401,700, 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 BenefitsNote: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.EEO StatementApple 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 applicantAccessibilityAt 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.Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplaceLearn about reasonable accommodations for job applicantsApplication DeadlineApple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.