Research Scientist Graduate (3D/4D Reconstruction/Generation/Relighting) - 2026 Start (PHD)

Research Scientist Graduate (3D/4D Reconstruction/Generation/Relighting) - 2026 Start (PHD)

Location: San Jose

Team: Technology

Employment Type: Regular

Job Code: A34182A

Responsibilities

• Participate in research and development of 3D and 4D scene reconstruction/generation algorithms (including dynamic scenes and human subjects), and/or lighting estimation/editing, and promote their application in MR/XR scenarios;
• Develop efficient and scalable 3D/4D reconstruction/generation/relighting pipelines, including task formulation, dataset construction, model training and optimization, inference acceleration, and deployment;
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams at PICO to promote hardware‑software co‑innovation;
• Track the latest research progress in 3D vision and computer graphics, and contribute to papers and patents.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Final year Ph.D. or recent Ph.D. graduates in Computer Science, engineering or quantitative field;
• Excellent programming skills, proficient in C++ or Python;
• Solid foundation in 3D Computer Vision and/or Computer Graphics, including:
  • Multi‑view reconstruction (e.g., MVS, LRM);
  • 3D/4D representations (e.g., NeRF, Gaussian Splatting);
  • Familiarity with ray tracing and rasterization‑based offline or real‑time rendering algorithms is a plus;
  • Knowledge in rendering is a plus, including fundamentals, digital asset creation and analysis (e.g. Blender, UE, Mitsuba), Image‑based rendering and lighting (IBR, IBL), and lighting estimation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience or deep understanding of NeRF or 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS), including:
  • Familiarity with 3DGS variants such as Mip‑Splatting and 3DGS‑MCMC;
  • Understanding of dynamic Gaussian, 4DGS reconstruction, volumetric video, and feed‑forward 3D/4D generation algorithms;
  • Research or project experience in high‑fidelity, efficient training, or compact 3D/4D representation.
• Familiarity with downstream applications of 3D/4DGS, including:
  • GS Relighting (e.g., GaussianShader, GIR, IntrinsicAvatar);
  • GS Editing (e.g., Gaussian Grouping, GaussianEditor).
• Knowledge of inverse rendering and lighting estimation, including learning‑ and optimization‑based models such as Differentiable Path Tracing and Physically‑based Inverse Rendering;
• Familiarity with computational imaging pipelines, including sensor fusion, exposure bracketing, tone mapping, and color management for mobile camera systems;
• Publications in top‑tier conferences or journals (CVPR, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, NeurIPS, etc.) are a plus;
• Winners or high performers in programming or algorithmic competitions such as ACM‑ICPC, NOI/IOI, or TopCoder are highly preferred.

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Job Information

The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $136,800 - $259,200 annually.

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.

Benefits

Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short‑term and long‑term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

Los Angeles County Fair Chance

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:

• Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
• Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems;
• Exercising sound judgment.

About Us

Founded in 2012, ByteDance's mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. With a suite of more than a dozen products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut and Pico as well as platforms specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, ByteDance has made it easier and more fun for people to connect with, consume, and create content.

Why Join ByteDance

Inspiring creativity is at the core of ByteDance's mission. Our innovative products are built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and enrich life - a mission we work towards every day.

As ByteDancers, we strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our Company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.

Diversity & Inclusion

ByteDance is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At ByteDance, our mission is to inspire creativity and enrich life. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.

Reasonable Accommodation

ByteDance is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at