Houdini Pipeline Technical Director

Description

DigitalFish has an immediate need for a Houdini Pipeline Technical Director with a strong grasp of hair and fur pipelines in visual effects production, and experience building and deploying Houdini based tools for fur in scaled production pipelines.

As a pipeline TD with DigitalFish, you will develop next-generation technologies that define the future of digital-media creation and consumption for millions of users. DigitalFish has long been a trusted partner of leading digital media companies, and we are at the center of their efforts to build a new generation of platforms and experiences. Current and past customers include Facebook, Google, Apple, Pixar/Disney, DreamWorks, Activision, LEGO, Disney/ESPN, NASA and many others.

Ideal candidates will have 7-10 years relevant work experience, but if you think you’re right for this position, contact us; we’ll listen.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the rest of the engineering and technical-art teams, senior management, and client stakeholders
• Design, implement and test pipeline scripts and tools, Houdini plugins, and clean and efficient artist-facing user interfaces
• Drive pipeline priorities in conjunction with production supervisors to achieve scalable Houdini Solaris / USD-based workflows in production
• Write scripts and tools that configure and manage jobs running on the facility renderfarm and storage infrastructure, locally or in the cloud
• Work with production artists to debug and resolve issues
• Adapt tools to the problems at hand while balancing between long-term development goals and short-term production demands
• Write technical briefs and documentation

Job Requirements

• BS/BA in Computer Science or related engineering field
• 7+ years experience developing pipeline solutions in a visual effects or animation production studio, or a combination of an advanced degree plus relevant work experience
• 2+ years experience working specifically on hair/fur/feather pipelines
• Experience writing custom integrations via scripting and C++ SDKs for Houdini; extending other DCCs is a strong plus
• Fluency with tools and processes used in production such as scene descriptions (especially USD), file formats (FBX, Alembic) and pipeline concepts
• Working knowledge of 3D-graphics fundamentals, linear algebra, quaternions, 
• Prior experience in large-team development using Python, PySide, HScript.  Development with HDK in modern C++ a strong plus.
• Strong general programming skills including knowledge of software patterns, build systems, and performance optimization
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum development processes
• Self-motivated with strong communications skills and able to work both in a team and independently
• Proof of eligibility to work in the United States

Compensation and Benefits

• Ability to influence product and features built on cutting-edge technologies
• Enormous opportunity for learning and professional growth
• Work with a well-respected, creative and talented group of experts in graphics and animation

Location

We fully support telecommuting during these times. 

Additional Info

Principals only, recruiting firms please do not contact us. We are an equal opportunity employer and are hiring immediately. We look forward to hearing from you!