Software Engineer, Tools Internals (Core)

Job ID R-03787 Location Emeryville, California, United States Business Pixar Animation Studios Date posted Mar. 24, 2025

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Job Summary:

Our Software R&D department (Tools) is responsible for developing Pixar’s in-house and open-source software. We work very closely with both artists and engineers to build innovative filmmaking tools that enable our film production and continuously extend artistic reach. As a Software Engineer on the Internals team, you will work on extending the feature set as well as improving the performance of our in-memory scene representation and its computation engine. This software stack is at the heart of our in-house digital content creation application, Presto, and is making its way into open-source USD. You will collaborate with us in a multi-functional team of developers, and help craft and implement robust, easy-to-maintain code. Are you enthusiastic about software architecture and API design? Do you love writing high-performance and high-quality C++ code, and are you interested in putting your multithreading and parallel programming skills to use? If so, we would love to have you on the team!

What you’ll do

Contribute to world-class 3D graphics software applications and frameworks that enable and support Pixar’s film production
Profile performance-critical code paths and creatively optimize algorithms to enhance interactive user experiences
Take ownership of challenges that arise from evolving and modifying software that is heavily exercised in an active production environment
Collaborate with a team of engineers, technical artists, QA, build support and project management
Work closely with other teams to plan and develop user-facing features that help our artists push boundaries, as well as libraries and APIs that enhance the capabilities of our software
Join forces with valued external partners, and help bring Pixar’s production-proven technologies to our open-source USD distribution
Work in a collaborative environment, exchanging knowledge with accomplished technicians, and drawing inspiration from amazing artists

What you offer

A strong and continually-expanding understanding of C++, including knowledge of how things work under the hood
Solid knowledge of data structures and algorithms
Experience with STL and modern C++
Passion in crafting high-quality code with attention to detail, readability and performance in mind
Ability to design and implement APIs and frameworks as well as user-facing features
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
Four or more years of professional experience

Nice to haves

Prior exposure to performance profiling tools and workflows, parallel programming and multithreading, and cache-aware programming
Experience programming on GNU/Linux
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience or education

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.

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About Pixar Animation Studios:

Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renoinswned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation. The Northern California studio has created some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including “Toy Story,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “WALL•E,” “Up,” “Toy Story 3,” “Brave,” “Inside Out,” and “Coco.” Its movies have won 35 Academy Awards® and have grossed more than $13 billion at the worldwide box office to date.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Pixar Inc., which is part of a business we call Pixar Animation Studios.

Pixar Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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