PhD Graphics Intern — Rendering & Shader Expertise

Figma; United States; Remote; USD 84,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Travel reimbursement

Job summary

Figma is seeking a PhD student in Computer Graphics for a 12 or 16-week internship to join the Rendering & Animation team in the United States. The role focuses on graphics, rendering, or media challenges and offers tangible, portfolio-worthy work while collaborating across 1–2 partner teams.

You’ll work with a manager and team leads to deliver production-ready systems, with pay noted at $74/hour and housing/travel stipends. Remote work is not indicated; in-person hubs in SF or NY are referenced.

Qualifications

• Current enrollment as a 4th or 5th year PhD student pursuing a PhD in Computer Graphics, Media Processing, or a related field
• Experience with OpenGL, WebGL, WebGPU, Vulkan or Metal and their shader languages (GLSL, WGSL) or other low-level graphics APIs
• Proficiency in either C++ or Rust
• Track record of rigorous problem solving through academic or applied research, with holistic thinking about use cases and low-level tech

Responsibilities

• Learn from industry graphics engineers and participate as an embedded team member of the Rendering & Animation team
• Collaborate with engineers, PMs, designers, and researchers to scope and execute your work
• Develop, validate, and document solutions from prototypes to production-ready systems
• Drive projects applying research insights to meaningful product challenges
• Contribute to domains like shaders, anti-aliasing, media processing, or geometry

Skills

C++

Rust

PhD candidate

Education

PhD student in Computer Graphics or related field

Tools

OpenGL

WebGL

WebGPU

Vulkan

Metal

Job description

Figma is seeking a PhD student in Computer Graphics for a 12 or 16-week internship to join the Rendering & Animation team in the United States. The role focuses on graphics, rendering, or media challenges and offers tangible, portfolio-worthy work while collaborating across 1–2 partner teams.

You’ll work with a manager and team leads to deliver production-ready systems, with pay noted at $74/hour and housing/travel stipends. Remote work is not indicated; in-person hubs in SF or NY are referenced.