{"id":3346585,"url":"https://alion.io/job/apple-sr-principal-engineer-foundationdb-2","title":"Sr. Principal Engineer - FoundationDB","company":{"id":12,"name":"Apple","domain":"apple.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/apple","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Apple Jobs","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":91,"open_postings":861,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.171,"repost_share":0.002,"time_to_fill_p50_days":95,"computed_at":"2026-11-01T06:10:25Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Cupertino, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":191000,"max_usd":387000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":1961},"experience_years_min":15,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"CockroachDB","optional":false},{"name":"DynamoDB","optional":false},{"name":"FoundationDB","optional":false},{"name":"Google Cloud Spanner","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-27T16:09:15Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-27","last_verified_at":"2026-11-01T11:49:25Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":4,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":4},"description":"Apple is home to some of the most complex and consequential infrastructure in the world. At the center of iCloud's platform is FoundationDB, a planet-scale database system powering tens of billions of databases and some of Apple's most critical services.\nWe are looking for a Principal Engineer to join this team and serve as its technical north star: defining architectural direction, shaping the hardest problems in distributed databases, and helping grow the team that brings that vision to life.\nDescription\nFoundationDB is the metadata layer behind iCloud Storage, operating at a scale that puts it in rare company globally. And because this technology is open source, the architectural decisions made here don't stay inside Apple, they ripple across the broader technology ecosystem, powering some of the most technically demanding systems in the world.\nThis is a pivotal moment for the team. We are in an active growth phase and looking for a Principal Engineer who will serve as the technical north star through that expansion. The hardest and most interesting problems in distributed databases are ahead of us, and you will define how we approach them.\nYou won't just be close to these problems. You will shape the technical vision and approach for solving them, influence the engineers tackling them day to day, and help grow the team that turns that vision into reality.\nMinimum Qualifications\n15+ years of experience designing, implementing, and operating highly scalable distributed systems.\nDeep expertise in planet-scale database systems, with hands-on experience in systems such as Spanner, DynamoDB, CockroachDB, or comparable technology.\nProven ability to define and communicate long-term technical strategy across large, complex engineering organizations.\nStrong cross-functional partnership skills, with experience working closely with platform, infrastructure, and product engineering teams.\nExceptional written and verbal communication skills -- able to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.\nA strong sense of ownership and a track record of driving outcomes in ambiguous, high-stakes environments.\nBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with modern data storage systems.\nKnowledge of security & privacy.","description_format":"text","description_chars":2376,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":15,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Operating Systems","Laptops","Smartwatches & Fitness Trackers","Tablets"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-27T17:17:27Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 6,350 · green card filings: 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