Simulation Developer, Ziva VFX

This role is remote and open everywhere: Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, or Europe. We are looking for a Simulation Developer to join our Ziva VFX team. Ziva character tools bring cutting-edge techniques and workflows to professional 3D character artists, empowering them to create realistic and dynamic animated performances. Ziva VFX is our award-winning physics simulator for achieving realistic deformations of anatomical tissues in digital characters. We use sophisticated simulation techniques such as the Finite Element Method to bring physically-plausible characters to life. Our tools are used in world-class film and TV productions delivered by the talented character artists at DNEG.

Key Responsibilities:

• Improve and maintain the core physics simulator of the Ziva VFX software product.
• Deliver robust, performant, cutting-edge new features for high-fidelity soft-body physics.
• Identify opportunities for high-impact contributions from published research or user feedback.
• Steer contributions from experimental prototypes to robust features of stable production software.
• Continuously improve the speed and robustness of the physics calculations.
• Enhance the experience of artists as they set up and run character simulations.

Success in this role requires the ability to seamlessly and efficiently integrate cutting-edge geometric and numerical algorithms into a complex and sophisticated simulation framework.

Job Requirements:

• Expertise in C++ software development.
• Proficiency in Linear Algebra, Numerical Computing, Collision Detection, Finite Element Methods, and other aspects of physics simulation.
• 2 or more years of experience working with physical simulation software, OR equivalent graduate education.
• Proven ability to read, implement, and refine novel techniques from research literature.
• Ability to write highly performant code, familiarity with parallel computing, profiling and optimization.
• Proficiency with GPU programming, e.g. CUDA.
• Experience delivering 3D tools for use by technical artists and animators.
• Collaborative software development with git.

Additional Skills:

• Experience using and developing plugins for Maya and Houdini.
• Previous successful collaborations with professional animators and animation technical artists, in Games and/or Film.
• Experience coding in Python.
• Familiarity with Linux.
• Experience writing and editing technical documentation for implemented tools and features.
• Experience with all aspects of the software development lifecycle.
• Working knowledge of software quality control processes, e.g. CI/CD.

About You:

• Critical eye for details.
• Proactive.
• Team oriented.
• Adaptable.
• Calm under pressure.
• Strong communication abilities.

Please note that this is a unionized position and will be covered by a collective agreement between DNEG and IATSE, in the coming months. As a unionized employee, you will be required to join the union and will benefit from the conditions set out in the collective agreement. Union dues will be required once the collective agreement is in place.

The base salary range for this full-time position is $120,000 to $130,000. DNEG salary ranges are determined by function, department, level, and location. An individual's pay within a given range is determined by their transferable or job-related skills and work experience. Salary ranges are modified from time to time based on external market data collected through our third-party surveys.

About Us:

We are DNEG, one of the world's leading visual effects and animation companies for the creation of award-winning feature films, television, and multiplatform content. We employ more than 9,000 people with worldwide offices and studios across North America (Los Angeles, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver), Europe (London), Asia (Bangalore, Mohali, Chennai, Mumbai), and Australia (Sydney).