Research Scientist, Applied Machine Learning Security (Agent Systems)
Apple Cupertino, CA Full-time 3/17/2026 $181,100 - $318,400 a year
PhD Entry-Level
Approval 98.9%•Total filings 5,543•New hires 2,691•
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•FY 2025Job Description
Apple is seeking a staff-level ML Security Research Scientist to lead applied security research on agentic ML systems deployed at scale. The role involves identifying vulnerabilities, designing adversarial evaluations, and driving security mitigations into shipping products while ensuring user privacy.
Requirements
- Ph.D. or equivalent experience in machine learning, security, systems, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience in applied ML security, adversarial ML, or systems security with real-world impact.
- Strong experimental and engineering skills, with an emphasis on reproducibility and operational relevance.
- Experience researching or securing LLM-based or tool-augmented ML systems.
- Ability to work fluidly across research, engineering, and security review processes.
- Track record of influencing production systems through research-driven insights.
Responsibilities
- Lead applied research on production agent systems, identifying and characterizing vulnerabilities.
- Design realistic adversarial evaluations that reflect real attacker incentives and system complexity.
- Drive defenses into shipping systems, developing mitigations compatible with production requirements.
- Own threat models for agent deployments, defining trust boundaries and translating them into actionable security requirements.
- Bridge research and engineering by partnering with ML platform teams and product security.
- Provide technical leadership, setting standards for applied ML security research and mentoring other researchers.
Benefits
- Employees at Apple are often offered comprehensive benefits that support physical and mental well-being—flexible medical plans, confidential counseling, onsite wellness centers at major campuses, and resources for fitness and daily life. Families typically receive fertility support, paid parental leave with gradual return, caregiving leave, and dependent-care guidance, while financial perks commonly include stock grants (with purchase discounts), 401(k) matching, and income-protection coverage. Employees also see robust time off, Apple University learning and tuition reimbursement, donation matching and paid volunteer hours, and deep product and partner discounts.
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