Lead Systems Integration Engineer - AirPods
Job details
- Level
- Staff / principal
- Experience
- 8+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
- Posted
- Oct 31, 2026
- Last confirmed open
- Oct 31, 2026
What you'll need to apply
What this employer's standard application typically asks
Company-specific questions
- Have you previously worked at Apple?
About this role
At Apple, new ideas can quickly transform into amazing products, services, and customer experiences. Sound is an essential facet of that experience, and we are committed to making a difference through innovative electronic design. Our team owns the electronics inside small form-factor audio products — pushing the boundaries of physical architecture, wireless and silicon technologies.
The AirPods System Integration team turns these ambitions into shipping hardware. We are looking for a technical leader who holds the bar high — someone with a sharp eye for design detail, high standards for their own work, and the influence to bring the whole team up with them.
If you love building things, raising the quality of every design that ships, and working on products that millions of people wear every day, come help lead the next generation of AirPods!
You will set the technical direction for system electrical engineering on an AirPods program — anchoring architecture decisions, raising the bar on how the team designs and validates hardware, and making sure the toughest calls get made with rigor. You will be a force multiplier for the engineers around you — unblocking, enabling, and elevating their work and a trusted voice across engineering, manufacturing, and leadership.
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, or equivalent directly-related work experience
8+ years of relevant industry experience designing electronic and/or embedded systems
Deep electrical engineering fundamentals across analog, digital, power, and signal integrity, with a track record of leading complex system decisions to closure
Experience in shipping at least one high-volume consumer product end-to-end, from architecture through mass production, including working with contract manufacturers
Demonstrated hands-on lab and debug experience across the full product lifecycle
Track record of shaping how a team operates — the tools, workflows, and frameworks that focus effort on what matters most and divide work efficiently across engineers
Ability to turn high-level direction into concrete plans and deliverables — and take other engineers along on that journey
Ability to evaluate emerging technologies — silicon roadmaps, wireless standards, sensing, materials — and assess how they will shape future generations of AirPods
Comfortable making measured decisions in ambiguity with incomplete data — and a track record of decisions that held up
Excellent communication and executive presence — the ability to explain complex electrical trade-offs to non-EE audiences and land decisions across engineering, operations, and leadership