Privacy Architect

Summary

Apple's Wallet, Payments, and Commerce teams are redefining how people pay, access, and interact with financial services. Our work powers Apple Pay, Apple Cash, Tap to Pay, and connected services that enable commerce at global scale. Privacy is a fundamental human right at Apple, and foundational to that ambition.

Description

We are seeking a Principal Engineer to own privacy architecture for Wallet, Payments, and Commerce engineering. You are the technical authority for privacy across WPC. You will define how WPC collects, processes, retains, and protects user data across a global, regulated ecosystem, and own our approach to user consent, data minimization, logging architecture, and privacy risk.
You will lead through influence. The Privacy Compliance team runs assessments, monitoring, and training. You supply the frameworks, decisions, and escalation judgment that make their work consistent and scalable, and you own the multi-year roadmap.
You will work with leadership to define a comprehensive privacy strategy, contributing to technical discussions regarding current and emerging privacy requirements. You will partner with Apple central privacy teams e.g. Apple Privacy Legal and User Privacy to evaluate existing and new offerings against global privacy standards and design architectural enhancements to uphold Apple’s foundational principle that privacy is a fundamental human right.

Responsibilities

Own WPC's privacy architecture and multi-year roadmap across all offering teams
Make privacy-by-design the default path: tooling, review gates, and AI-assisted capabilities from design through launch and beyond
Design and own the centralized privacy engineering framework (consent, data minimization, logging, retention) and drive adoption as a shared standard
Architect WPC's logging and telemetry strategy to be operationally useful, privacy-preserving, and compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and emerging global frameworks
Define the PIA methodology, risk taxonomy, control standards, and monitoring architecture. Privacy Compliance executes them at scale. Automate risk identification wherever possible
Resolve the highest-risk and most ambiguous privacy decisions, and set precedent others reuse. Review critical system designs and own remediation strategy for systemic risk
Serve as WPC's primary technical interface to Apple's Privacy organization and legal counsel, translating regulation into clear engineering guidance. Anticipate emerging regulation and AI-driven commerce risk, and brief senior leadership

Minimum Qualifications

12+ years of experience in privacy engineering, security engineering, or related architecture roles
Deep expertise in privacy engineering (data minimization, consent architecture, logging design, privacy-preserving patterns at production scale) and command of global regulations (e.g. GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA), translated into engineering decisions
Track record of defining standards or platforms adopted across large, complex engineering organizations, leading through influence over senior engineers and compliance practitioners who do not report to you
Ability to make defensible architectural decisions under regulatory ambiguity and align legal, product, and engineering leadership
Experience using generative AI to build tools, automate risk identification, or accelerate engineering workflows in regulated environments
Exceptional written and verbal communication, including executive briefings and regulator-facing material
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience

Preferred Qualifications

Payments, financial services, or other regulated-domain experience, including audit expectations, partner privacy requirements, and frameworks such as NIST, SOC 2, and ISO 27001
Hands-on experience building shared privacy platforms (consent management, PII detection, data lineage)
Experience representing engineering in external regulatory engagements, partner privacy reviews, or industry working groups

Pay & Benefits — Cupertino, California, United States

At 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 $216,200 and $394,000, 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 Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Application Deadline

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.