Simulation Pipeline Tech Artist & Tools Developer

Apple Inc.; Cupertino (CA); Hybrid; USD 176,000 - 312,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical & dental coverage

Employee stock program

Tuition reimbursement

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Cupertino is seeking a Simulation Pipeline Technical Artist to join the Special Projects Simulation group. You will build world simulations, prototype tools, and integrate video game and film techniques into scalable pipelines for AI/ML-inspired features.

You should bring at least 5 years as a Technical Artist, strong Python, USD knowledge, and experience with Maya or Houdini. The role offers broad collaboration, evolving tools, and opportunities to impact cutting-edge simulations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as a Technical Artist in video games, animation, or VFX.
• Strong Python skills for data creation and manipulation.
• Experience creating pipelines to generate images via multiple DCCs with custom code.
• Strong USD format, tools and APIs experience.
• Experience with Maya, Houdini, or similar DCC APIs.
• Proven track record of developing new tools to speed workflows for artists.
• Solid understanding of shading, lighting, textures, and materials.

Responsibilities

• Develop pipelines and generation tools for 3D assets for world simulations.
• Bring video game and film techniques to our pipeline to optimize quality and size for multiple use-cases, retaining flexibility and potentially multiple versions of assets for different purposes.
• Develop tools and systems which enable procedural and agentic systems to utilize assets.
• Develop tools for artists to work more effectively.
• Assist in bringing new materials generation techniques into our pipeline.
• Manage our asset library, establishing and enforcing conventions and standards, making the library easily usable by humans and agentic systems.
• Develop techniques to generate new content, scale our asset libraries with variation, manage our assets, and broaden our simulation scope.

Skills

Python

Pipeline development

USD format

DCC APIs

Shading & texturing

Tool development

Tools

Maya

Houdini

Substance Designer

Job description

Apple Inc. in Cupertino is seeking a Simulation Pipeline Technical Artist to join the Special Projects Simulation group. You will build world simulations, prototype tools, and integrate video game and film techniques into scalable pipelines for AI/ML-inspired features.

You should bring at least 5 years as a Technical Artist, strong Python, USD knowledge, and experience with Maya or Houdini. The role offers broad collaboration, evolving tools, and opportunities to impact cutting-edge simulations.