PhD Intern, Software Engineer - Graphics (2027)

Figma is growing our team of creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all.

The Rendering & Animation team (R&A) builds the graphics engine which renders the canvas for all Figma applications.

As an intern on our team, you'll take ownership of a high-impact project at the intersection of your technical strengths and our most pressing graphics, rendering, or media challenges.

Responsibilities:

• Learn from industry graphics engineers and participate as an embedded team member of the Rendering & Animation team
• Collaborate with engineers, PMs, designers, and researchers to scope and execute your work
• Develop, validate, and document solutions from prototypes to production-ready systems
• Drive projects that apply research insights to meaningful product challenges
• Contribute to exciting domain areas, such as crafting and optimizing shaders for sophisticated effects, investigating improvements to anti-aliasing algorithms, and more!

Requirements:

• Current enrollment as a 4th or 5th year senior PhD student pursuing a PhD in Computer Graphics, Media Processing, or a related field
• Experience working with OpenGL, WebGL, WebGPU, Vulkan or Metal and their respective shader languages (GLSL, WGSL)
• Proficiency in either C++ or Rust
• A track record of rigorous problem-solving through academic or applied research

Nice to have:

• Demonstrated expertise in computer graphics, supported by publications at conferences such as SIGGRAPH, Eurographics, High Performance Graphics, NVIDIA GTC, or Pacific Graphics
• Proficiency in WebAssembly, web graphics, 2D graphics, performance optimization, animation, geometry, or media
• Interest in art and design applications
• Experience using AI tools to write, debug, and optimize code

Benefits:

• Housing stipend and travel reimbursement
• Opportunity to work on high-impact projects
• Collaborative and dynamic work environment

Pay Transparency Disclosure:

• $74-$74 USD per hour