Senior Software Engineer, Graphics, Fonts and Text Rendering

Google; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 174,000 - 252,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Google's Skia Graphics team is seeking a senior software engineer to advance text rendering and graphics features across Chrome, Android, and other Google platforms. You will collaborate with designers and engineers to deliver high‑quality cross‑platform graphics, shaping font support and rendering pipelines.

You will work on APIs for shaping, alignment, and rendering, partnering with teams to push visual capabilities on desktop and mobile devices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 years of experience in software development using C++.
• Experience with graphics programming and rendering APIs (Skia, Vulkan, OpenGL).

Responsibilities

• Enhance text rendering capabilities in Skia across Chrome platforms.
• Implement support for new fonts and update rendering with OS changes.
• Develop shaping and alignment APIs for latest designs.
• Collaborate with design and engineering teams to build cross‑platform graphics solutions.
• Triage issues and use AI to accelerate engineering productivity.

Skills

C++

Graphics programming

Rendering libraries

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience

Master’s or PhD in CS or related field

Tools

Skia

Vulkan

OpenGL

SVG/Canvas2D APIs

Text libraries (Freetype/Harfbuzz/CoreText/DirectWrite)

Job description

Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: Raleigh, NC, USA; Durham, NC, USA.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 years of experience in software development using C++.
• Experience with graphics programming, including work with rendering libraries or graphics APIs (e.g., Skia, Vulkan, or OpenGL).

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 1 year of experience in a technical leadership role.
• Experience with low-level graphics programming and vector graphics.
• Experience working with graphics APIs, such as SVG, Canvas2D, OpenGL, WebGL, WebGPU, Vulkan, Metal, or DirectX and utilizing text libraries such as Freetype, Harfbuzz, CoreText, or DirectWrite for rendering and shaping.
• Experience in platform development across Android, Chrome (Mac and Linux), Web, or iOS.

About The Job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

As a part of the Skia Graphics team within Chrome Graphics, you will contribute to delivering compelling 2/2.5D graphics features for all of Google’s platforms, a team whose mission is simply, “Pixels on all platforms.” Skia itself is a complete 2D open source library for drawing Text, Geometries, and Images.

You will partner closely with native designers and web developers, work on the underlying rendering to make graphic designs and effects come to life in Chrome, Android, Wear, Flutter, and many other products across Google. You will also deliver graphics for external partners across the industry.

The Platforms and Devices team encompasses Google's various computing software platforms across environments (desktop, mobile, applications), as well as our first party devices and services that combine the best of Google AI, software, and hardware. Teams across this area research, design, and develop new technologies to make our user's interaction with computing faster and more seamless, building innovative experiences for our users around the world.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $174000 - $252000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits

Responsibilities

• Enhance the capabilities and performance of text rendering in Skia across Chrome, Android, and other Google platforms.
• Implement support for emerging fonts and evolve text support alongside operating system updates.
• Develop shaping and alignment APIs to support the latest designs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional design and engineering teams to build high-quality cross-platform graphics solutions.
• Triage and resolve system issues, and use AI to accelerate engineering productivity.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.