ML Research Engineer Jobs in California
ML Research Engineer jobs in California represent one of the most active and competitive markets in the country, concentrated in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous systems, and large-scale foundation model research across entry-level through principal-level roles. The heaviest hiring is in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Los Angeles, where companies like Google, Meta, and NVIDIA have deep research operations. The most sought-after specializations in California include large language model research, reinforcement learning, and computer vision applied to real-world systems. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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The Apple Services Engineering (ASE) team is one of the most exciting examples of Apple's long-held passion for combining art and technology. People here create the experiences loved by users across App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, and Apple Fitness. The scale is massive, delivering content and entertainment in over 35 languages to more than 150 countries, while meeting Apple's high bar for quality and performance.
The team is responsible for building secure, robust, end-to-end solutions across server and client to solve challenging problems. Thanks to Apple's unique integration of hardware, software, and services, engineers here work with a single unified vision of deep commitment to strengthening Apple's core principles such as customer focus, privacy, and relentless innovation. Although services are a bigger part of Apple's business than ever before, these teams remain small, nimble, and cross-functional, offering an opportunity to work with passionate people, contribute ideas, and ship innovative software. Here, you'll do more than just join a team; you'll be making a positive impact on people's lives.
Description
The ASE Search team is a vital part of the Apple ecosystem, powering search for App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Podcasts, Books, Fitness+, iTunes, and more, across a wide set of platforms including iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, Safari, and third-party devices. Driven by a passion for the extraordinary rather than the easy, our team of problem solvers is dedicated to helping users discover media and content in exciting new ways, and we're looking for motivated engineers and researchers to join us on this journey.
As a Machine Learning Researcher/Engineer on the ASE Search team, you will help design and develop next-generation search and conversational discovery features for Apple's groundbreaking devices and platforms. ","responsibilities":"Contribute to building experiences that shape how people search and discover on Apple devices worldwide.
Build and improve ML models and systems across surface areas such as retrieval, ranking, query understanding, and document understanding.
Develop and iterate on ML models end-to-end, from data preparation and training through evaluation and production deployment, including backend components using languages such as Go, Java, Python, and Scala.
Stay current with research in search, information retrieval, and generative AI, and apply new techniques to improve our systems.
Collaborate with engineers, researchers, and product teams to understand requirements and deliver high-quality solutions.
Design and run A/B experiments, and contribute to automated testing, monitoring, and alerting to measure and maintain the health of production systems.
Present technical work to the team and participate in design and code reviews.
Preferred Qualifications
Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related subject area.
4+ years of relevant industry experience in ML or data systems.
Experience building search or conversational capabilities such as query understanding, retrieval, ranking, indexing, autocomplete, or intent resolution.
Familiarity with big data pipelines using Scala, Python, or Apache Spark.
Exposure to distributed backend services, Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, or container orchestration.
Experience with GoLang or gRPC services.
Familiarity with A/B experimentation and data-driven product development.
Minimum Qualifications
MS in Computer Science or a related subject area.
2+ years of relevant industry experience in ML or data systems.
Knowledge of generative AI systems, including Large Language Models, Transformers, and techniques such as RAG and fine-tuning.
Experience with one or more ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow; familiarity with distributed training or inference tooling (e.g., Ray, TensorRT, vLLM) is a plus.
Familiarity with search, recommendation systems, conversational engines, or related domains.
Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
Pay & Benefits
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 $150,400 and $277,600, 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.
The Apple Services Engineering (ASE) team is one of the most exciting examples of Apple's long-held passion for combining art and technology. People here create the experiences loved by users across App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, and Apple Fitness. The scale is massive, delivering content and entertainment in over 35 languages to more than 150 countries, while meeting Apple's high bar for quality and performance.
The team is responsible for building secure, robust, end-to-end solutions across server and client to solve challenging problems. Thanks to Apple's unique integration of hardware, software, and services, engineers here work with a single unified vision of deep commitment to strengthening Apple's core principles such as customer focus, privacy, and relentless innovation. Although services are a bigger part of Apple's business than ever before, these teams remain small, nimble, and cross-functional, offering an opportunity to work with passionate people, contribute ideas, and ship innovative software. Here, you'll do more than just join a team; you'll be making a positive impact on people's lives.
Description
The ASE Search team is a vital part of the Apple ecosystem, powering search for App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Podcasts, Books, Fitness+, iTunes, and more, across a wide set of platforms including iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, Safari, and third-party devices. Driven by a passion for the extraordinary rather than the easy, our team of problem solvers is dedicated to helping users discover media and content in exciting new ways, and we're looking for motivated engineers and researchers to join us on this journey.
As a Machine Learning Researcher/Engineer on the ASE Search team, you will help design and develop next-generation search and conversational discovery features for Apple's groundbreaking devices and platforms. ","responsibilities":"Contribute to building experiences that shape how people search and discover on Apple devices worldwide.
Build and improve ML models and systems across surface areas such as retrieval, ranking, query understanding, and document understanding.
Develop and iterate on ML models end-to-end, from data preparation and training through evaluation and production deployment, including backend components using languages such as Go, Java, Python, and Scala.
Stay current with research in search, information retrieval, and generative AI, and apply new techniques to improve our systems.
Collaborate with engineers, researchers, and product teams to understand requirements and deliver high-quality solutions.
Design and run A/B experiments, and contribute to automated testing, monitoring, and alerting to measure and maintain the health of production systems.
Present technical work to the team and participate in design and code reviews.
Preferred Qualifications
Ph.D. in Computer Science or a related subject area.
4+ years of relevant industry experience in ML or data systems.
Experience building search or conversational capabilities such as query understanding, retrieval, ranking, indexing, autocomplete, or intent resolution.
Familiarity with big data pipelines using Scala, Python, or Apache Spark.
Exposure to distributed backend services, Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, or container orchestration.
Experience with GoLang or gRPC services.
Familiarity with A/B experimentation and data-driven product development.
Minimum Qualifications
MS in Computer Science or a related subject area.
2+ years of relevant industry experience in ML or data systems.
Knowledge of generative AI systems, including Large Language Models, Transformers, and techniques such as RAG and fine-tuning.
Experience with one or more ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow; familiarity with distributed training or inference tooling (e.g., Ray, TensorRT, vLLM) is a plus.
Familiarity with search, recommendation systems, conversational engines, or related domains.
Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
Pay & Benefits
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 $150,400 and $277,600, 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.
See All 66 ML Research Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find ML Research Engineer JobsML Research Engineer Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
ML Research Engineer Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
- Apple18
- Nuro4
- ByteDance4
- Meta3
- Achira3A
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software10
- Electronics & Hardware10
- Artificial Intelligence7
- Banking & Financial Services4
- Transportation & Logistics3
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in ML research engineer jobs across California.
- PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a closely related field
- Demonstrated research experience with publications in top-tier ML conferences such as NeurIPS or ICML
- Strong programming proficiency in Python with hands-on experience in PyTorch or JAX
- Experience designing and running large-scale experiments on distributed GPU or TPU infrastructure
- Ability to communicate research findings clearly through written papers and internal technical presentations
- Familiarity with MLOps practices including model evaluation, versioning, and responsible AI principles
ML Research Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a ml research engineer in California?
Most ml research engineer roles in California require a graduate degree, with a PhD strongly preferred at research-focused organizations and a Master's degree accepted at many applied research teams. California does not issue a state license for this role, so the path centers on academic credentials, a strong publication record or research portfolio, and internship experience at California-based AI labs or tech companies. Top California universities such as UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, and UCSD are common pipelines into research positions at Bay Area and Southern California employers.
Which companies hire ml research engineers in California?
Employers hiring ml research engineers in California right now include Apple, Nuro, and ByteDance, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. California's concentration of AI-focused headquarters and independent research labs makes it one of the densest hiring ecosystems for this role in the world.
Which California cities have the most ml research engineer jobs?
The cities with the most ml research engineer openings in California are San Francisco, Cupertino, and Palo Alto. The San Francisco Bay Area dominates because it is home to the headquarters and primary research campuses of the largest AI-focused technology companies, while Los Angeles and San Diego draw openings through entertainment AI, biotech, and defense and aerospace research operations.
Are there remote ml research engineer jobs in California?
Yes, and more than most fields. About 37% of ml research engineer openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting how much of the work involves writing code, running experiments, and producing research artifacts that do not require a specific physical location. The parts of the role most likely to remain on-site are hardware-in-the-loop experiments, collaborative whiteboarding sessions, and access to specialized GPU or robotics lab infrastructure.
How can I get hired as a ml research engineer in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is through a research internship or a pre-doctoral residency program, which large California employers such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft Research offer specifically for candidates who are strong academically but do not yet hold a PhD. Open-source contributions to widely used ML frameworks, reproduced research results published on GitHub, or a competitive performance in ML competitions provide concrete evidence of ability when a formal publication record is thin. Adjacent roles such as ML engineer or data scientist at a California company can also serve as a bridge into a dedicated research function over time.
Where can I find and apply to ml research engineer jobs in California?
You can find and apply to ml research engineer jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings across research labs, technology companies, and applied AI teams. Find roles that fit your background and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 66 ML Research Engineer Jobs in California
Find roles in California that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find ML Research Engineer Jobs