Senior Engineer - Pipelines (AI)

TL;DR

Senior Engineer - Pipelines (AI): Developing and maintaining a machine learning pipeline for responsible AI use in VFX with an accent on scalable frameworks, APIs, and integration into existing creative workflows. Focus on designing high-performance software for the AI provenance project and optimizing DCC application integrations.

Location: Must be a resident or citizen living in Wellington, New Zealand or Melbourne, Australia

Company

hirify.global is one of the entertainment industry’s leading visual effects companies, renowned for its work on blockbusters such as Avatar and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

What you will do

• Develop, maintain, and integrate a new responsible AI pipeline into existing VFX workflows.
• Collaborate with artists and departments to design and optimize scalable frameworks and APIs.
• Contribute to the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) RMTC AI provenance project.
• Write high-quality, performant software to meet the demands of a dynamic production environment.
• Stay at the forefront of technological advancements to evolve production processes.

Requirements

• Proficiency in C/C++ and Python.
• Experience with VFX frameworks and tools such as Qt, USD, and DCC applications (Houdini, Maya, Nuke, or Katana).
• Experience with modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, ONNX, or TensorFlow).
• 4+ years of professional experience and a degree in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Must be a resident or citizen of New Zealand or Australia living in Wellington or Melbourne.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience in a delivery-focused VFX/film production environment.
• Familiarity with ASWF software including OpenColorIO, OpenExr, and OpenTimelineIO.
• Proven experience using Open-Source libraries and APIs.
• Understanding of ML data quality, compliance, and scaling.
• Experience creating browser-based GUIs (JS) with Flask backends.
• Experience with real-time systems in image processing, 3D geometry, or rendering.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology for world-class cinematic projects.
• Environment that celebrates diversity, respect, and support for all team members.
• Commitment to a discrimination-free recruitment and workplace experience.