Junior Rendering Software Engineer

About the role

Image Engine, a VFX studio in Vancouver founded in 1995, is hiring a Software Engineer specializing in Rendering. You will be the primary developer of the studio's proprietary Look Development and Lighting tools, built on top of Gaffer, an open source Look Dev and Lighting framework. Reporting to the Software Engineering Supervisor, you will bridge Software, Look Dev and Lighting and work closely with all VFX departments using 3D rendering, including Arnold ray-tracing, Arnold GPU and real-time rendering.

Key responsibilities

• Design, implement and support proprietary, open-source and third-party software for Lighting, LookDev and rendering workflows.
• Work with artists, technical directors and supervisors to define LookDev and Lighting needs for current and future productions.
• Identify and optimize bottlenecks in shading, lighting and rendering algorithms and workflows.
• Contribute to the open source projects Cortex and Gaffer, and communicate with vendors on feature requests and bug fixes.
• Build solutions for production workflows that can be generalized across productions.
• Document, test, debug and maintain documentation for tools, scripts and plugins.
• Provide secondary technical support, training and tutorials to artists, TDs and production staff.
• Stay up to date with industry trends in Look Development, Lighting and Rendering on CPU and GPU.

Required profile

• University degree in Computer Science, Math, Physics, Engineering or a related field.
• At least 2 years of software development in a VFX, animation or games production, or a postgraduate degree (MSc, PhD) focused on computer graphics.
• A Master's or PhD in Computer Science or a related field is an asset.
• Candidates must be based in British Columbia and eligible to work in Canada.

Required skills

• Solid grasp of rendering fundamentals, from the rendering equation to efficient code implementation.
• Tools for a production-ready path tracer (preferably Arnold).
• OSL and GLSL.
• C++ and Python.
• DCC applications such as Maya, Katana and Nuke.
• VFX data formats such as Alembic, USD or VDB.
• Familiarity with Cortex or Gaffer, Linux environments and modern GPU architecture are assets.

What we offer

• Salary of $75,000 to $95,000 per year for a 40-hour week on a 1-year project contract.
• Extended healthcare from day 1, with premiums fully covered by Image Engine.
• Up to 8 paid Health and Wellness days per year.