Principal Research Engineer, 3D Gaussian Splat Coding

Principal Research Engineer, 3D Gaussian Splatting

About Ofinno: 
Ofinno is a leading research and development lab headquartered in Reston, Virginia, specializing in advancing communication and media standards. Our team’s innovative work has led to significant contributions to technologies such as 5G cellular, Wi-Fi, and media compression. Ofinno holds strategic partnerships and licensing agreements with several of the world’s leading technology companies that use such technologies. At Ofinno, we foster an environment of collaboration and excellence, where researchers can focus on delivering breakthroughs that shape the future of technology. 

Position Overview:
As a Principal Research Engineer in the Advanced Media Lab, you will provide technical leadership in 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) coding for immersive media. You will define and drive high-impact technical directions from research framing to reproducible prototypes and rigorous evidence, translating innovations into standards-ready proposals and patentable inventions. This role is hands-on and implementation-aware, working closely with cross-functional stakeholders and external partners to deliver measurable gains in compression efficiency, quality, and complexity.

Key Responsibilities:
As a Principal Research Engineer in 3D Gaussian Splatting, you will:

• Define and drive high-impact 3DGS coding directions, setting technical priorities across multiple workstreams and aligning execution across the team.
• Lead end-to-end design and evaluation of coding approaches for 3DGS representations (e.g., representation design, parameterization, quantization, entropy/context modeling, progressive transmission, complexity reduction), including tool interactions and system-level tradeoffs.
• Establish and enforce rigorous experimental methodology and benchmarking (rate–distortion, quality metrics, complexity/latency/memory), including ablations, cross-check readiness, and reproducibility standards.
• Drive external-facing technical output: author and shape proposals, defend results, and align test conditions/baselines with collaborators and standards bodies as needed.
• Invent and develop patentable solutions that improve efficiency and/or complexity, and support the full IP process - from invention disclosure through filing.
• Mentor and develop team capabilities through technical coaching, code reviews, and raising the bar on research/engineering best practices.
• Improve shared infrastructure and baselines (pipelines, scripts, datasets, configs, regression testing) to increase reliability and velocity across 3DGS coding research.

Qualifications:
Minimum:

• M.S. (EE/CS or related) with 10+ years of relevant research and/or product experience in compression, immersive media, 3D/graphics/vision, and/or learned representations.
• Prior delegate, editor, AHG/CE/JEE chair, or sustained active contributor experience in MPEG immersive media and/or 3D representation coding.
• Deep understanding of compression fundamentals and strong expertise in at least one of: 3D representations, neural rendering, point clouds, or view synthesis pipelines, or learned representation coding.
• Hands-on experience with MPEG V-PCC and/or G-PCC implementations and/or tool development.
• Proven ability to set technical direction, make sound architectural decisions, and drive execution through measurable outcomes.
• Strong implementation skills: C/C++ for performance-critical prototypes and pipelines; Python for experimentation is a plus.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to represent the company in standards meetings and industry events.
• Track record of technical impact through peer-reviewed publications, patents, and/or standards contributions.

Preferred:

• Ph.D. (EE/CS or related) with 10+ years of relevant research and/or product experience in compression, immersive media, 3D/graphics/vision, and/or learned representations.
• Hands-on experience in point cloud / volumetric / neural representation coding workflows and evaluation (datasets, metrics, streaming constraints).
• Experience driving industry-facing integration or enablement (e.g., reference pipelines, reproducible tooling, or deployment-oriented performance work).
• Familiarity with the patent filing process and collaborating with patent attorneys.

What else you should know  
Our people are our business. We know you have to see it to believe it, but here are some of the perks you can count on:  

• 401(K) matching -- We help you plan and save for retirement with a 401(K) matching program that’s available on day one.   
• Free healthcare plans -- Ofinno covers full premiums for you are your family on select healthcare plans, including employer HSA contributions if applicable.  
• Free Food -- Our kitchen is always fully stocked, including lunch, protein bars, fruit, sodas, coffee, and tea.   
• Unlimited Paid Time Off -- Our lives are enriched by family time, vacations, and personal time. We offer unlimited paid time off and sick leave.   
• On-campus gym -- Unwind, reduce stress and feel great – even when you’re at work.  
• Other benefits, too long to list -- Please discuss with our great People Ops team about additional benefits offered.  

What Now?   
What are you waiting for? We hope you will click on the link and forward your credentials to us today.  All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.