Graphics Compositing UI Rendering Engineer, Graphics, Games, & ML

Apple; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for its UI Rendering team in Cupertino, California. The ideal candidate will have deep rendering expertise to drive key aspects of the Core Animation graphics compositing and rendering engine, architecting technologies that enhance visual experiences across various devices.

With a focus on collaboration with HI designers and framework engineers, you'll work on state-of-the-art graphics solutions while ensuring performance and quality. A strong background in C/C++, real-time rendering, and mastery of Metal and other APIs are required for this role.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software development, including software release management.
• 3+ years of experience with real-time rendering and computer graphics.
• Hands-on experience with Metal or modern graphics APIs.

Responsibilities

• Work with HI team to implement UI effects using advanced graphics APIs.
• Debug UI rendering issues and maintain quality through continuous integration.

Skills

C/C++ programming

real-time rendering

shader development

Metal or modern graphics APIs

debugging complex systems

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Metal

Vulkan

DirectX

Job description

Summary

Apple's Compositing, Color, and Display Software organization provides the graphics software foundation for all of Apple's innovative products, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and Apple Watch. Our goal is to enable developers and HI designers to create exceptional visual experiences by efficiently utilizing hardware acceleration and color technologies through compositing and display. The technologies we develop are central to enabling enhanced experiences across our platforms, including acceleration for Liquid Glass UI material and presenting HDR content with the highest quality. Are you passionate about building the rendering technologies that make interfaces feel alive? Do you get excited about solving complex graphics challenges to deliver beautiful, responsive experiences at scale? If creating world‑class visual experiences through innovative rendering architecture energizes you, this is your opportunity.

Description

We're looking for a talented Senior Software Engineer with deep rendering expertise to join our UI Rendering team. In this role, you'll drive key aspects of the Core Animation graphics compositing and rendering engine that powers visual experiences across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. You'll architect and build the graphics technologies that bring our user interfaces to life, from foundational compositing systems to cutting‑edge visual effects. Working at the heart of our graphics stack, you'll bridge the gap between creative vision and technical reality. You'll partner directly with HI designers to prototype and productize new visual concepts, collaborate with framework engineers to expose powerful rendering capabilities, and work alongside our Metal and GPU teams to unlock the full potential of Apple Silicon. From next‑generation material systems to sophisticated animation techniques, you'll shape the visual foundation that defines how millions experience Apple products every day.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with HI team and higher‑level UI Frameworks (UIKit, AppKit, SwiftUI) to implement such effects using state‑of‑the‑art 3d graphics API for hardware acceleration on GPU and other acceleration engines on Apple Silicon Performance and power optimizations to provide responsive UI and great user interaction experience across all Apple devices
• Debug UI rendering or performance/power/memory issues and support continuous integration effort to maintain quality

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software development, including software release management and integration processes
• 3+ years of experience with real‑time rendering and computer graphics
• Strong background in C/C++ programming and shader development
• Hands‑on experience with Metal or modern graphics APIs (Vulkan, DirectX)
• Experience with layer‑based rendering systems or scene graph architectures
• Foundational understanding of Operating Systems, Computer Architecture, and CPU/GPU programming including memory subsystems
• Strong debugging and triaging skills for complex, multi‑layered systems issues
• Experience with graphics performance analysis and optimization techniques
• Excellent collaboration skills with cross‑functional teams on complex large‑scale projects
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise with Metal Shading Language and advanced graphics programming
• Knowledge of compositing algorithms, color management, HDR, and wide color gamut workflows
• Experience with CPU/GPU synchronization and multi‑threaded rendering architectures
• Experience with client/server or multi‑process graphics architectures
• Experience with Mac or iOS application development using Swift or Objective‑C
• Familiarity with GPU profiling tools and performance optimization for mobile platforms
• Experience shipping consumer graphics products at scale
• Experience with automated testing frameworks for graphics rendering