Freelance Educational Game Developer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Gaming is a massive and rapidly growing part of the Apple ecosystem, bringing joy to hundreds of millions of players across all Apple devices. The Apple Games App is at the forefront of this experience, designed to connect players with incredible games, foster communities, and empower developers to build the next generation of interactive entertainment. We believe we are just getting started in redefining the gaming landscape.
We are seeking a software data engineer to join the Apple Games App Data Engineering team. In this role, you will help deliver an unparalleled gaming experience and improve the platform every day for both players and game developers by generating insights from data in a privacy-friendly manner. We enable data-driven innovation by building solutions, services, and analytical workloads for a variety of internal collaborators and external gaming partners. In a world where gaming has become a central pillar of digital entertainment, the Apple Games team is essential to Apple's business.
Description
As a member of the Apple Games App Data Engineering team, you will have significant responsibility and influence in shaping its strategic direction. This is a software engineering position. We write robust code, not just ad-hoc scripts. Our software processes dozens of terabytes of gaming and player engagement data on a daily basis. Our jobs and applications must be efficient, scalable, and stable.
Although we write software, data is our main product and first-class citizen. We care about accurate and qualitative data as much as we care about fine, clean, and manageable code. The data we produce powers Apple leadership and our game developer partners with insights about player behavior, new innovations, and the next big things in gaming. You will play a key role in developing analytics solutions tailored specifically for game developers, leveraging your knowledge of the third-party gaming analytics ecosystem to help build best-in-class tools.
To succeed here you will need to be a proponent of building world-class analytical solutions. To be a part of the team means we will want your ideas, concerns, and opinions in our discussions. We are highly collaborative. You will collaborate closely with engineering, product, and partner organizations. Privacy is a foundational engineering requirement in everything we build, and our solutions are designed to comply with Apple's privacy principles from the ground up. Our team is small and focused, where engineers work across a broad range of problems.
Preferred Qualifications
Good understanding of software engineering principles and fundamentals including algorithms and data structures.
Self-directed, self-motivated, and ability to create architecture and design documents.
Ability to capture cross-functional requirements and translate them into practical engineering tasks.
Excellent communication skills and proven ability to work in a cross-functional environment.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent related experience
Experience building analytics and data solutions specifically for game developers.
Familiarity with third-party analytics tools and platforms used in the gaming industry.
5+ years of hands-on experience building distributed data processing applications using Apache Spark or Apache Flink.
5+ years of programming experience in Scala (preferred) or Java.
Experience with Big data: Hadoop, HDFS, Spark, SQL, Kafka.
Proven skills in designing scalable, highly available distributed systems using technologies like Kafka, Iceberg, Kubernetes, Airflow, and Cassandra.
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 $147,400 and $272,100, 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.