<p>Hi!</p>
<p>I want to work for Apple in front end development management one day. I think this combination could be powerful for achieving that position. It "gives you a foot in both the business, and IT worlds". I've gathered that marketing would be a good emphasis with an MBA for my purposes. Is this logic solid?</p>
<p>Job Summary</p>
<p>Apple is seeking an experienced Development Manager to lead the front-end development of apple.com. This manager will be responsible for the technical leadership and implementation of innovative client-side web solutions leveraging HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript on both desktop and mobile browsers. </p>
<p>Key Qualifications</p>
<p>Day-to-day leadership for the engineering team with a focus on employee development.
Strong skills moving technology teams away from tactical operation issues and towards strategic feature development.
Dedicated problem solver with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment where multiple releases are a fact of life.
In-depth knowledge and experience designing and developing client-side interactive features using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
Comfortable evangelizing web technologies across the organization.
Willingness to push the bounds of client-side web development with the goal of creating a unique experience for users.
The manager will play a key role in connecting the front-end engineering team with other product engineering groups at Apple in order to take full advantage of Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Description</p>
<p>Well-versed in fundamental visual and interactive design disciplines. Effective hiring practices which brings new talent to the team. Significant demonstrated experience developing client-side interactivity for Mobile Safari on iOS devices. Track record of successfully evangelizing technology across a large organization. Maniacal attention to technical and visual detail. Demonstrated experience with a variety of development methodologies and willingness to adapt these to the needs of an organization. Comfortable managing a multitude of projects within multiple releases. Ability to actively and efficiently collaborate with both engineering and design teams to validate technology decisions. Competent JavaScript programmer who doesn’t need to rely on libraries to accomplish innovative interactions. Aware of the interplay between JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, and can dynamically create, modify, and style elements on a page with ease. Able to communicate technical issues with non-technical folks.</p>
<p>Education</p>
<p>Minimum of 5 years of professional software development experience, plus 2 years of management experience with front-end web development (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) required.</p>
<p>Not a bad idea. Looks like your technical chops and experience will matter more, but the MBA does help in getting into management roles. For a place like Apple, pedigree will matter so go to a well regarded school. </p>
<p>This is generally the path that I’m following.</p>
<p>I’m currently working as a software engineer for a defense contractor in MD. I’m also attending an MS Computer Science program part time in the evenings which will take me about 4 years to complete. I’m also an Infantry officer in the Army National Guard so I am able to attend the MS CS program for almost free at a state university.</p>
<p>After completing that and doing my time as a Infantry company commander, my plan is to attend a part-time MBA program in the DC/MD area. A full time MBA never made any sense to me as the opportunity cost is simply too high based on my current salary. An MBA to me is a simple “check the block”. The name of the school matters less than your duty assignment in your military career in terms of networking for the defense sector.</p>
<p>Plus, you can’t beat Return on Investment when the cost of going for additional degrees such as an MS CS and MBA are nearly free.</p>