Graphics Software Engineer

Job Title: Graphics Software Engineer
Work Location: San Diego, CA 92121 (100% onsite)
Duration of Assignment: 3+ Months
Pay Rate Range: $60.00-$68.00/hr on W2

Job Description:
Top 5 Required Skills (These are not preferred skills. If the candidate does not have these required skills, they will be rejected completely)
1. Vulkan Graphics Programming
- Strong experience with Vulkan render pipelines, compute shaders, synchronization, descriptor sets, memory barriers, and GPU-driven rendering.
2. Modern C++ Performance Engineering
- Expert-level C++ for real-time systems, memory management, multithreading, SIMD-friendly data layouts, and low-latency rendering code.
3. Mobile GPU Optimization
- Deep understanding of mobile GPU architectures, especially tile-based rendering, bandwidth limits, cache behavior, thermal constraints, and power/performance tradeoffs.
4. GPU Compute and Shader Optimization
- Ability to optimize GLSL/SPIR-V compute and graphics shaders, including sorting, culling, binning, blending, prefix sums, compaction, and parallel data processing.
5. Graphics Performance Profiling and Debugging
- Experience identifying GPU bottlenecks using profiling tools, analyzing frame timing, shader occupancy, memory bandwidth, overdraw, synchronization stalls, and CPU/GPU overlap.

Required Technologies
- Vulkan
- C++17/C++20
- Android NDK
- GLSL or HLSL
- SPIR-V
- Qualcomm Adreno GPU architecture
- Snapdragon mobile platforms
- Qualcomm Snapdragon Profiler
- RenderDoc
- Android Studio / Android build tools
- CMake
- GPU compute shader math
- Real-time rendering pipelines

Required Education:
Required Years of Experience
Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, or related field and 2+ years of Software Engineering, Hardware Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Game Rendering, or related work experience.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
• Applies Graphics knowledge and experience to architect, design, implement, and verify the structure and performance of GPU hardware, drivers, features, applications, and tools.
• Writes code for features, drivers, and APIs using different languages (e.g., C, C++, perl, python) and ensures code will perform effectively on different platforms.
• Maintains comprehensive pre- and post-silicon tests using tools and methods in different environments (e.g., simulation, emulation, on-device) to verify performance and identify issues.
• Identifies deficiencies in designs and works with team members to develop solutions to improve designs.
• Collaborates with teams and external stakeholders to expose new features and functionality that align with needs and goals for implementation and customization.
• Writes detailed design documentation and feature descriptions for projects to guide developers and/or customers to use or implement software.

Job Overview
We are seeking a contractor Graphics Software Engineer to support development of real-time Gaussian Splatting-based rendering systems for avatar and XR applications running on-device (edge devices such as Android phones and AR glasses).
This role focuses on GPU optimization, memory-efficient data pipelines, and real-time Gaussian Splatting rendering under mobile constraints. The ideal candidate will be highly hands-on and able to quickly improve performance-critical systems deployed directly on hardware.
Key Responsibilities
1. Gaussian Splatting Rendering

• Develop and optimize Dynamic Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) rendering pipelines

• Improve performance of splat-based rendering, including sorting, data layout, and shader efficiency

• Analyze and resolve issues such as:

• Splat flickering and popping

• Sorting inconsistencies

• Precision differences between CPU and GPU

2. On-Device GPU Optimization (Android / Edge Devices)

• Optimize Gaussian Splatting pipelines for mobile GPUs (e.g., Adreno) on Android

• Ensure efficient execution under limited memory, bandwidth, and power constraints

• Tune rendering for real-time performance on phones and AR glasses

3. Data Pipeline & Memory Efficiency

• Design compact data representations for Gaussian Splatting frame data

• Optimize CPU → GPU data transfers for real-time rendering

• Eliminate intermediate processing and reduce runtime memory overhead

4. Shader Development & Rendering Pipeline Integration

• Implement GPU shaders tailored to Gaussian Splatting data formats

• Optimize shader input pathways for efficient on-device execution

• Integrate rendering pipelines with motion, lighting systems.

5. Debugging & System Validation

• Debug complex rendering issues in Gaussian Splatting pipelines

• Investigate numerical precision issues and GPU/CPU inconsistencies

• Validate rendering output against reference pipelines

6. Collaboration & Execution

• Collaborate closely with XR, vision, and avatar teams

• Contribute to on-device demos and prototype systems (phones / AR glasses)

• Execute quickly on well-defined tasks with strong ownership of implementation

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field

• Strong programming skills in C/C++

• Experience with Android platform development

• Experience with GPU programming (OpenGL ES, Vulkan, or similar)

• Solid understanding of:

• Real-time rendering pipelines

• GPU memory management

• Performance optimization on embedded systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with Gaussian Splatting / Relighting / Simulation

• Experience building graphics systems on mobile or XR devices

• Familiarity with Adreno GPU architecture

• Experience optimizing for real-time constraints (latency, bandwidth, power)

• Experience debugging rendering artifacts in GPU pipelines