Principal Software Engineer (Platform)

The Principal Software Engineer (Platform) provides the team with deep technical insight into the details of building modern production pipelines using USD and Houdini as a backbone. They leverage their extensive production experience and leadership skills to design and help build systems, apis and components for use by other developers. The ideal candidate understands how to design and/or utilize abstract and interoperable pipeline frameworks to achieve their goals. Additionally they participate in design, architecture, prototyping and technical leadership for creation and integration of innovative techniques (particularly in the area of Generative AI) into the pipeline design. Key Responsibilities Architect, design, and build reusable systems and components in the domain of USD and Houdini pipelines, enabling developers to build production facing workflows Gather requirements from stakeholders and help to prioritize them Interpret high-level architectural goals into technical documents and effective operational components Ensure that projects align with stakeholder goals, industry best practices, and scalability requirements Collaborate with vendors and open source communities to ensure that critical issues are solved upstream where possible Partner with software development leadership and pipeline team to identify and schedule tasks Lead the implementation of solutions that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes Mentor and upskill engineers through feedback, code review, and training sessions Identify opportunities for innovation, by investigating new approaches in ML and Generative AI. Collaborate with Pipeline leadership to integrate these into our short- and long-term roadmap. Qualifications Passion for staying knowledgeable of the latest trends in VFX and computer graphics Firm grasp of all departments and components that comprise a VFX pipeline 10+ years experience in software engineering 5+ years experience in engineering leadership Strong written and verbal communication skills Demonstrated talent for designing intuitive, artist-friendly workflows without sacrificing functionality Depth and breadth of understanding of engineering principles, practices, and language. Acronyms such as DRY, OOP, UML, and TDD should be familiar. Experience with agentic systems a plus Familiarity with virtual production and volume capture a plus $187,000 - $250,000 CAD a year This salary range is specific to applicants applying to our position in Vancouver, Canada. To determine your base salary, we consider your qualifications, skills, and experience. These considerations can cause your compensation to vary outside of this range and will also be dependent on your location.