Sr. Engineering Leader, Foundation Data Platform - Wallet, Payments & Commerce

Role Number: 200686487Team: Software and ServicesLocation: AustinPosted: 2026-09-30SummaryAt Apple, great ideas become extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences with remarkable speed. Wallet, Payments and Commerce (WPC) is at the center of that work, powering experiences like Apple Pay, Apple Cash, and Tap to Pay that are redefining how the world pays and interacts with commerce. If you are a seasoned engineering leader who thrives at the intersection of platform strategy, technical depth, and team building, this is your opportunity to do the most impactful work of your career.The WPC Data Foundation team builds the petabyte-scale data infrastructure that powers analytics, marketing, strategy, product management, and real-time observability across every WPC product and service. We are looking for a high-impact Senior Engineering Leader to own the technical direction, integration strategy, and team development of this critical foundation.DescriptionAs a Senior Engineering Leader on the WPC Data Foundation team, you will lead the team responsible for extending Apple's enterprise data platform to meet the domain-specific needs of commerce, partner, and channel data. This is a role defined by extension and integration, not by building from scratch. Your mandate is to close the gap between what Apple's central platform provides and what WPC requires, with precision and rigor, ensuring that everything warranting a shared solution flows through Apple's platform as intended.This role demands both technical depth and strategic judgment. You will lead the team that draws the line: what to consume as-is, what to extend, what belongs in WPC's layer, and what to push upstream for the benefit of the broader organization. You will partner with your engineers and cross-functional platform teams on technical direction, architecture, and roadmap decisions, ensuring the foundation meets the high bar for scale, reliability, and governance expected of Apple's financial and commerce systems. Success in this role is measured, in part, by how little WPC-specific infrastructure your team needs to create. Parts of your roadmap will be shaped by platform teams outside your organization, and navigating that effectively is central to how this role creates impact.This is a rare opportunity to build the data foundation that an entire world-class commerce platform depends on, within one of the most sophisticated engineering ecosystems in the world.Minimum QualificationsSeasoned leader in software and platform engineering, with solid experience leading engineering teams that include engineering managers, senior and staff-level ICs.Demonstrated ownership of data systems at petabyte scale in production, including actual volumes, ingest rates, and consumer counts you were accountable for.Proven experience building on top of a shared or central platform you did not own, extending it, integrating with it, and influencing its roadmap.At least one clear example of securing a capability from another team's roadmap rather than building around them.Hands-on background in distributed processing, streaming, and large-scale storage, sufficient to lead technical direction credibly.Track record of hiring and growing engineering talent and building durable team structure.Demonstrated delivery of multi-quarter programs with significant cross-organizational dependencies.Excellent written communication; drives alignment through structured documents, not only through meetings.Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.Preferred QualificationsExperience leading teams serving both real-time and batch consumers on a unified data foundation.Background in commerce, partner, payments, or supply chain data domains.Familiarity with federated data ownership and data mesh models, with a clear-eyed view of where they add value.Demonstrated cost efficiency at scale without regressing reliability or developer experience.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.