Demand Strategy Lead, Cloud Infrastructure Business Operations

Demand Strategy Lead, Cloud Infrastructure Business Operations

Join a worldwide company that welcomes the whole wide world. Our customers are all over the world, so it's by design that Apple employees are all over the world, too. And we know our ability to continue creating the world's most innovative products depends on people who represent the variety of the human experience and who inspire us with great thinking. Because the broader the backgrounds and perspectives, the bigger the ideas. At Apple, we're not all the same. And that's our greatest strength. We draw on the differences in who we are, what we've experienced, and how we think. Because to create products that serve everyone, we believe in including everyone.

Description

As part of a team dedicated to building the Cloud Infrastructure Demand Planning function, we work with cross-functional business partners to forecast and aggregate long-term infrastructure demand across cloud resources, data centers, and hardware. With this data we propose and implement strategies for optimizing cloud and datacenter resource planning, including buffer assessments, inventory management, financial liability management, and supply chain risk mitigation. This role requires a strategic attitude, technical expertise in cloud infrastructure, and strong problem solving capabilities to optimize prioritization. We partner with engineering, finance, and supply chain teams to align demand forecasts with procurement and deployment strategies. Your ability to work with senior leadership to review long-term infrastructure capacity plans and secure approvals for resource acquisition and deployment will be essential to your success in this role.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in demand planning, infrastructure planning, cloud operations, supply chain, or a related field.
• Familiarity with hardware lifecycle management, including procurement, lead times, and supply chain constraints for servers, networking equipment, and storage.
• Strong experience with infrastructure financial modeling, TCO analysis, and cost optimization strategies for cloud and on-prem resources.
• Strong skills in Excel, including advanced modeling, VBA, and automation. Proficiency in data analysis and forecasting tools (e.g., Python, SQL, R, Power BI, Tableau).
• Experience with capacity modeling, demand forecasting, and scenario planning for large-scale infrastructure.
• Experience in long-range planning for infrastructure growth, including multi-year capacity projections and investment strategy.
• Shown ability to influence technical and non-technical customers, including engineering, finance, supply chain, and executive teams.
• Experience leading cross-functional planning processes, aligning partners on demand signals and infrastructure roadmaps.
• Prior experience presenting complex data and planning insights to executive leadership (VP-level and above) with clear, actionable recommendations.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or MS in Operations Research, Supply Chain, Data Science, Engineering or a related field.
• Deep understanding of cloud and datacenter infrastructure, including compute, storage, networking, virtualization, and hyperscale/cloud provider ecosystems.
• Experience with cloud capacity planning and forecasting methodologies for AWS, Azure, GCP, or private cloud environments.
• Experience with Cloud FinOps (financial operations), particularly cost forecasting and chargeback models.
• Familiarity with AI/ML-driven capacity planning and predictive analytics tools.
• Prior experience in a hyperscale cloud provider, data center operator, or large enterprise infrastructure planning team.
• Knowledge of operations research, statistical forecasting, or machine learning techniques for infrastructure planning.

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 $172,100 and $305,600, 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.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.