Sr. Linux Engineer - DNS and Global Server Load Balancing, Infrastructure Services

Summary

Infrastructure Services is part of IS&T and the foundation of Apple's global network operations — managing data center equipment and systems to deliver compute, storage, and networking services for teams across Apple, including its internal developer community. From individual facilities to a worldwide network, Infrastructure Services ensures the technology underneath everything works without question

Apple's services reach hundreds of millions of people every day, and Edge Services builds and runs the authoritative DNS and global server load balancing infrastructure that sits at the front door of all of them. Every request to an Apple service begins here, in the first few milliseconds where our systems decide how and where to answer. The reliability, correctness, and performance of that front door directly shape the experience people have with Apple, and keeping it fast and dependable at global scale is the work of our team.

We're looking for a thoughtful, experienced engineer to bring technical leadership to this infrastructure. You'll operate and extend bare-metal and cloud systems distributed across dozens of data centers and network points of presence worldwide, build deep traffic and resolution visibility, drive performance and capacity planning, and create the automation that keeps our 24x7 operations calm and reliable. You'll also mentor engineers across the team and partner closely with our software, network, and product engineering groups. We believe great systems are built by great teams and care as much about how we work together as about what we ship. If you're energized by owning the reliability of critical infrastructure at global scale, we'd like to hear from you.

Description

This is a senior individual-contributor role and a technical anchor for the Edge Services DNS and GSLB systems. The essential functions of the job are to operate and extend distributed Linux infrastructure as code across geographically dispersed sites; to define and maintain the observability, alerting, and service-level objectives that keep the systems healthy; to build automation that removes operational toil; to plan fleet capacity and hardware lifecycle across globally distributed sites; and to mentor engineers while partnering across software, network, and product teams. The role includes incident and process management and participation in a shared 24x7 production on-call rotation.

Responsibilities

Operates and extends bare-metal and cloud Linux infrastructure across dozens of edge sites and points of presence, treating infrastructure as code so that standing up or rebuilding a site is predictable and repeatable.
Owns the reliability, correctness, and performance of the authoritative DNS and global server load balancing systems, including incident response and participation in a 24x7 on-call rotation.
Builds deep visibility into the systems by defining meaningful service-level objectives, alerting, and dashboards that span every point of presence and surface problems early.
Develops automation and tooling in Python, Go, Rust, and/or Swift — supported by generative AI tooling — to remove operational toil and turn manual tasks into reliable, self-sustaining systems.
Guides fleet capacity, growth, and hardware lifecycle across geographically distributed sites through smart tooling, thoughtful planning, and collaboration with leadership and program management.
Mentors and grows engineers at every career stage and partners with other senior engineers to raise the bar on architecture, tooling, and design.
Partners with software, network, and product engineering teams to deliver large-scale rollouts and keep 24x7 operations running smoothly.
Represents the team's work, needs, and ideas to partners and leadership through clear, collaborative communication.

Minimum Qualifications

Demonstrated experience operating Linux systems in production, including software deployment and CI/CD workflows.
Working knowledge of networking fundamentals, with hands-on experience troubleshooting TCP/UDP and common layer 2–3 issues.
Experience with configuration management or infrastructure-as-code tooling (for example, Salt, Ansible, Puppet, or Terraform) and with observability tooling (for example, Prometheus and Grafana, or equivalents).
Proficiency in at least one programming language used for automation and tooling (for example, Python, Go, Rust, or Swift).
Willingness to participate in a shared 24x7 on-call rotation.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Extensive experience operating large-scale infrastructure across multiple data centers or network points of presence.
Expertise with anycast routing and BGP, and a strong understanding of how DNS, load balancing, and the network layer interact.
Depth in Linux internals, including kernel networking, and in package management and software deployment at fleet scale.
Experience defining service-level objectives and indicators (SLOs/SLIs) and driving reliability programs across distributed systems.
Familiarity with secure-by-default operations, such as DNSSEC key management, change safety, and progressive configuration rollout.
Experience with scale and performance testing, disaster recovery, and capacity planning.
Experience managing hardware lifecycle across edge and regional network environments.
Track record of leading end-to-end projects, defining technical roadmaps, and driving cross-functional alignment on architecture and best practices.
Experience mentoring engineers and leading code reviews.

Pay & Benefits — Sunnyvale, 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 $324,800, 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.