Software Engineer Consideration – SIGGRAPH 2025

This application is for SIGGRAPH 2025 attendees only. Apply only if you are an attendee of SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver. ​​Pixar Animation Studios Software R&D Department is accepting resumes for consideration during Siggraph 2025 in Vancouver August 10-14. Roles are expected to work hybrid at our Emeryville, CA location. For immediate consideration, submit an application and we will follow-up with appropriate next steps. Thank you for your interest in Pixar!

Software Engineers, Application Team 

Develop the studio’s in-house proprietary software used by animators and technical artists to make our films. Engineers on this team directly work with production and engineers to create and maintain custom workflows and software to meet asset creation and shot production needs. Areas of focus include the following:

• Sets & Layout

• Characters & Crowds

• Animation

REQUIREMENTS: 

• Strong C++ skills

• Excellent debugging and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail

• Appreciation for the importance of long-term code health, peer review, automated testing, and documentation

• Familiarity with 3D math and computer graphics

• Experience working in a UNIX/Linux environment a plus

• Experience with 3D applications and their APIs (ex: Katana, Nuke, Maya, Houdini, etc.) a plus

Software Engineers, Core Team 

Contribute to high-performance software applications and frameworks that form the backbone of our film-making pipeline. Our work ranges from open source projects like USD (Universal Scene Description) and OpenSubdiv, to a state-of-the-art evaluation engine that powers our in-house content creation application Presto. Take ownership of challenging problems that arise from evolving the architecture of software that is heavily exercised in an active production environment, and collaborate with other engineers and artists to continuously extend artistic reach.

REQUIREMENTS: 

• Start with a strong understanding of C++ that you continually expand upon

• Be ready to navigate a large code base with many active contributors

• Solve problems creatively, with attention to detail, and a desire to discover and address root causes

• Take pride and passion in building software architecture that minimizes complexity, scales well, and remains malleable to an ever evolving filmmaking pipeline

• Hold yourself to a high bar when it comes to engineering methodologies, like writing maintainable code, providing good documentation and embracing automated testing

• Build software holistically: From planning and proposal to implementation, testing, optimization and deployment

• Have the ability to listen well and communicate clearly

• Thrive in a collaborative and diverse environment where you exchange knowledge with accomplished technicians and draw inspiration from world-class artists

Software Engineers, USD

You will work on USD, our framework for asset interchange and collaborative editing, and a cornerstone of our filmmaking pipeline. This codebase has been open sourced as OpenUSD, and you’ll support and collaborate with a rich community across various industries to extend the project in exciting new directions!

What you’ll do:

• Contribute to Universal Scene Description (USD), an open-source software framework for asset interchange and collaborative editing that forms the backbone of Pixar’s filmmaking pipeline, and is used widely across various industries

• Further integrate USD into Pixar’s custom toolset of 3D content creation applications, and help evolve its growing feature set while improving performance and scalability

• Take ownership of challenging problems that arise from evolving the architecture of software that is heavily exercised in an active production environment

• Collaborate with artists and other engineers to provide innovative technical solutions that extend our artistic and engineering reach

• Join forces with external partners as USD continues to redefine pipelines across industries, bringing new contributors and collaborators to the table

REQUIREMENTS: 

• A strong understanding of C++ that you continually expand upon

• Solid knowledge of data structures and algorithms

• Readiness to navigate a large code base with many active contributors

• Creative problem solving skills, with attention to detail, and a desire to discover and address root causes

• Pride and passion in building software architecture that minimizes complexity, scales well, and remains malleable to an ever evolving filmmaking pipeline

• You hold yourself to a high bar when it comes to engineering methodologies, like writing maintainable code, providing good documentation and embracing automated testing

• Love of the whole development cycle: From proposal and planning, to implementation, testing, optimization and deployment

• You listen well and communicate clearly and succinctly

The hiring range for this position in Emeryville is $145,265.00 to $187,990.00 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors.