Senior Technical Artist Engineer

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 325,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical & dental coverage

Retirement benefits

Stock programs

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Senior Technical Artist Engineer to join a team of motion designers, technical artists, and engineers crafting future experiences for Apple platforms. You will bring visuals and interactions to life while exploring new ideas, building real-time systems in Metal and VFX, and supporting design teams with tools and plugins.

The role emphasizes collaboration with design teams, shader development, and building polished visual experiences across Apple products and services.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience with Metal or similar graphics tech, writing shaders for visual effects, custom filters, and real-time 3D graphics.
• Experience authoring particle systems, simulations, or other procedural/generative visuals.
• Understanding of the GPU pipeline, shader performance optimization, and platform constraints.
• Experience building custom controls, transitions, and gesture-driven animation, integrating GPU-rendered content into a live view hierarchy.
• Proficiency with Swift, SwiftUI, and UIKit.
• Ability to work closely with designers and iterate quickly on ideas.
• Strong programming skills and a passion for learning new technologies.

Responsibilities

• Build real-time visual systems in Metal & VFX for Apple platforms.
• Write and optimize shaders that maintain frame rate on device.
• Build custom controls, transitions, and gesture-driven animation.
• Create tools and plugins needed by the design team.

Skills

Metal

Shaders

Particle Systems

GPU Pipeline

Custom UI Animations

Swift/SwiftUI/UIKit

Collaboration

Tools

Cinema 4D

Maya

Houdini

RealityKit

SceneKit

ARKit

Job description

Apple is where individual imaginations gather together to do great work. Every new product we build, service we create, or Apple Store experience we deliver is the result of us making each other's ideas stronger. It's the diversity of our people and their thinking that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do.

Description

Apple's Product & Design is seeking a Senior Technical Artist Engineer to join a team of motion designers, technical artists, and engineers crafting future experiences and interactions for Apple platforms. You'll partner closely with Design teams across the Services organization, like Apple Weather, Apple Pay, and Apple Sports, to create experiences with the fluidity and polish people expect from Apple.You'll spend most of your time bringing compelling visuals and interactions to life, while also helping shape what comes next by exploring new ideas. The ideal candidate is creative enough to imagine experiences at that level of polish and technical enough to build them.Build real-time visual systems in Metal & VFX: materials and effects, particles and simulation, procedural and generative visuals, and the custom interfaces they live in. Write and optimize shaders that hold frame rate on device. Build custom controls, transitions, and gesture-driven animation from the ground up. Build multiple iterations as requirements evolve quickly. Provide code and integration support to engineering teams for product features that require complex visual elements and animation. Create tools and plugins needed by the design team.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience with the Metal framework or similar graphics technologies, writing shaders for visual effects, custom filters, and real-time 3D graphics.
• Experience authoring particle systems, simulations, or other procedural and generative visual systems.
• Understanding of the GPU pipeline, shader performance optimization, and platform constraints.
• Experience building custom controls, transitions, and gesture-driven animation from the ground up, and integrating GPU-rendered content into a live view hierarchy.
• Proficiency with Swift, SwiftUI, and UIKit.
• Ability to work closely with designers and iterate quickly on ideas.
• Strong programming skills and a passion for learning new and evolving technologies.

Preferred Qualifications

• A portfolio, reel, or set of builds demonstrating shader, effects, or generative work.
• Creative coding and real-time engine experience: Processing, p5.js, Three.js, WebGL/GLSL, TouchDesigner, or Unity.
• Experience importing/exporting files from Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, Blender, or other 3D software.
• Experience with RealityKit, Reality Composer, SceneKit, or ARKit.
• Scripting tools experience (e.g., for prototyping workflows or macOS apps).
• A sharp eye for UI and interaction design with a strong sense of motion, detail, and timing.

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 $184,700 and $324,800, 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. Learn more about Apple Benefits
Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

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. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.
Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace
Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.