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.
