PhD Intern, Software Engineer - Graphics (2027)
San Francisco, CA • New York, NY · US · USD 74-74 · Posted Oct 13, 2026
At a glance
- Location
- San Francisco, CA • New York, NY · US
- Salary
- USD 74-74
About the role
- Figma is seeking a PhD Intern for their Software Engineer - Graphics role starting in May or June of 2027.
- The Rendering & Animation team builds the graphics engine which renders the canvas for all Figma applications.
- The intern will take ownership of a high-impact project at the intersection of technical strengths and 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 including crafting and optimizing shaders, investigating anti-aliasing algorithms, improving media processing capabilities, and animating spline interpolation
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) or other low-level graphics APIs
- Proficiency in either C++ or Rust
- A track record of rigorous problem-solving through academic or applied research, with experience thinking holistically about use cases and the low-level technology required
Preferred qualifications
- 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 (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) to write, debug, and optimize code
- Related industry experience via a past internship or full-time role
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated experience collaborating across functions
Benefits
- Housing stipend
- Travel reimbursement
Skills
- OpenGL
- WebGL
- WebGPU
- Vulkan
- Metal
- GLSL
- WGSL
- C++
- Rust
- WebAssembly
- GitHub Copilot
- ChatGPT
Show all 13 skills
- Claude
