Principal Rendering Engineer

Summary:  

We are seeking a Principal Rendering Engineer to drive the technical excellence of our rendering systems. Join our world-class team developing a cutting-edge open-world video game that pushes the boundaries of visual fidelity and gameplay immersion.   

Core Responsibilities:  

• Be responsible for optimizing and improving rendering infrastructure systems, including texture streaming, virtual texturing, GPU, and shader compilation.  

• Collaborate with technical artists to establish a performant kit of materials and techniques to meet visual requirements.  

• Develop scalable graphics solutions to maximize visual fidelity across a range of targets, from current-gen consoles to cutting-edge PCs and emerging hardware.  

• Drive the development of tools associated with rendering features, ensuring they are user-friendly and meet the needs of our artists.   

• Optimize our skin cache for GPU performance and memory to support rendering many characters on screen.  

• Stay up-to-date on current techniques, research, graphics data, and hardware advancements to inform the development of forward-thinking rendering systems.  

• Define and enforce technical specifications for asset and scene construction in collaboration with the art and design teams.  

• Author new shaders and effects to enhance visual quality.  

Core Qualifications:  

• Strong proficiency in C and multi-threaded programming techniques.  

• In-depth real-time rendering experience in the games industry or related computer graphics fields.  

• Expertise in GPU architecture and performance characteristics, with extensive use of GPU profiling tools (e.g., PIX, Razor).   

• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or 5.  

• Thorough knowledge and practical application of 3D math, rendering algorithms, and data structures.  

• Deep knowledge of at least one graphics API (e.g., DirectX 11/12, OpenGL, Vulkan, Metal).  

• Demonstrated skills in performance and memory optimization across various platforms.  

• Experience shipping AAA video games.  

• A proven track record of creating clean, efficient, and well-tested code.  

Plus If...  

• Experience with emerging rendering technologies, such as ray tracing or machine-learning-based graphics solutions.  

• Contributions to published research or participation in industry conferences related to computer graphics.  

• Familiarity with mGPU solutions and cutting-edge PC hardware optimization techniques.  

Description   

• Full-time job with benefits.   

• Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.   

The base pay range for this position is $170,000 to $230,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) match to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.