Sr Software Engineer, Tools Applications

The Walt Disney Company (Germany) GmbH; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 208,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Pixar’s Software R&D department as a Sr Software Engineer, where you'll enhance in-house movie production software. Collaborate with artists and engineers to develop tools that shape the future of filmmaking. Ideal candidates have strong C++ skills and a Bachelor's in Computer Science, with experience in graphics and production environments being a plus.

Qualifications

• At least five years of professional experience with modern C++ and STL.
• Strong software engineering skills including design principles and optimization.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and improve software individually and collaboratively.
• Work with artists to support their use of Pixar's filmmaking software.
• Identify and resolve time-sensitive issues affecting production artists.

Skills

C++

Problem Solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Tools

Maya

Houdini

USD

Qt

Linux

Job description

Sr Software Engineer, Tools Applications

Pixar’s Software R&D department (Tools) is responsible for advancing the state of the art with our in-house movie production software, including the Academy Award-winning Presto Animation System. With several films in production concurrently, Pixar is an exciting and dynamic environment where adaptable and motivated individuals thrive! We’re looking for multiple talented software engineers to join our Tools Applications teams, which play a critical role in developing and maintaining the software and pipeline used by production artists to create our animated feature films. These teams support a wide range of production stages—from asset creation like set building, shading, and character rigging, to shot production tasks such as cinematography, animation, character simulation, FX, lighting, and rendering. As an engineer on one of these teams, you'll help shape the next generation of Pixar’s envelope-pushing tools and applications that power our filmmaking process.

Responsibilities:

1. Maintain and improve the software individually and collaboratively within a team of engineers.
2. Work directly with technical and non-technical artists to support their use of Pixar's proprietary filmmaking software.
3. Identify, triage, debug, and resolve time-sensitive issues affecting production artists.
4. Partner with graphics research scientists to implement experimental technology and explore new and innovative ways to meet the software needs of our artists.
5. Work comfortably within a sophisticated, multi-layered technology pipeline.

Qualifications:

1. Demonstrated experience with and strong understanding of modern C++ and the STL with at least five years of professional experience.
2. Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent formal training.
3. Strong software engineering skills including familiarity with software design principles, performance optimization, and testing.
4. Strong problem-solving and communication skills with high attention to detail.

Highly qualified candidates may have:

1. Familiarity with the mathematics of computer graphics such as linear algebra as used to represent spatial transformations, and parametric curves and surfaces.
2. Familiarity with established graphics concepts such as subdivision, tessellation, mesh topology, and bounding hierarchies.
3. Experience with multithreaded and GPU programming.
4. Experience with professional 3D DCC applications (e.g., Maya, Houdini), USD, Qt, and Linux.
5. Experience working within VFX or animation production environments.

The hiring range for this position in Emeryville is $160,565.00 to $207,790.00 per year. The actual offer will depend on internal equity, geographic region, and the candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience.

About The Walt Disney Company:

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