Senior Backend Engineer, Retail Technology
Apple
Software Engineering, IT
Cupertino, CA, USA
USD 181,100-272,100 / year + Equity
Posted on May 27, 2026
Imagine what you could do here! The people here at Apple don’t just create products — they build the kind of wonder that’s revolutionized entire industries. It’s the diversity of those people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. At Apple, inclusion is a shared responsibility, and we work together to foster a culture where everyone belongs and is inspired to do their best work! We’re a diverse collective of thinkers and doers, continuously reimagining our products and practices to help people do what they love in new ways. That innovation is inspired by a shared commitment to great work — and to each other. Because learning from the people here means we’re learning from the best. Retail Operations creates the tools and programs that empower our teams to provide, a one of a kind, only at Apple experience. We do this by obsessing over the employee and customer experience, and driving a global strategy that sets the bar. The Retail Technology Engineering team designs, develops and deploys apps and digital experiences that shape the future of Apple Retail stores globally. You'll be a part of a dynamic team of full stack engineers, who work in partnership with various cross-functional Apple teams, to deliver innovative, scalable solutions to tens of thousands of Apple devices across 500+ stores world wide. If you're self-motivated, passionate about building impactful products and mastering new technologies, this is your opportunity to thrive.
As a Senior Backend Engineer on this team, you’ll design and evolve the services that deliver those experiences across a global fleet. Our services must be ready on a cadence set by Apple’s product launches rather than by sprint planning. This is a backend role with close ties to our products: the decisions you make in code show up as soon as customers enter the store. At this level, you’re the engineer others turn to when a tradeoff isn’t obvious, when a system needs to evolve faster than it can be rewritten, or when a choice made today shapes what’s possible two launches from now. You’ll set the technical bar across our services, mentor the engineers around you, and own outcomes end-to-end with product, design, and the teams running the stores themselves. What you build reaches millions of customers in our stores each year. It shapes how they experience Apple’s products and helps inform their choices.
- Design, develop, and maintain backend systems for Retail Operations.
- Take ownership of service reliability and performance in production, including readiness for retail launches.
- Lead technical projects, providing guidance and mentorship to junior engineers.
- Write clean, efficient, and well-documented code across our stack (Python, Go, and Ruby).
- Optimize database performance and ensure data integrity in PostgreSQL and our data warehouse.
- Present technical proposals and solutions to senior management and stakeholders.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including designers, frontend engineers, native app developers, and product owners, to deliver high-quality products.
- Participate in code reviews and contribute to improving our development processes.
- Drive innovation by identifying new opportunities to improve our systems and processes.
- 7+ years of experience in backend software development.
- Proven ability to design, develop, and deploy scalable and resilient backend systems.
- Excellent knowledge of data structures, algorithms, design patterns, and software engineering principles.
- Experience in leading technical projects and mentoring junior engineers.
- Strong proficiency in at least one of Python, Go, or Ruby, with a willingness to work across all three.
- Extensive experience with database technologies, particularly PostgreSQL.
- Solid understanding of data warehousing concepts and experience with a major warehouse platform.
- Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies like Kubernetes.
- Experience operating distributed systems in production environments with strict availability requirements.
- Experience with cloud platforms, particularly AWS.
- Experience with Snowflake.
- Excellent communication skills, including experience presenting technical work to senior management and non-technical audiences.