Staff Software Engineer, XR Graphics (iOS/Metal)

Minimum qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience. 8 years of experience in software development (e.g., C++). 5 years of experience testing, and launching software products. 5 years of experience with graphics, 3D graphics, GPU programming, mobile GPU, or iOS GPU. Preferred qualifications: Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field. Experience with GPU programming models. Experience with Vulkan. Experience identifying performance bottlenecks and optimizing applications. Experience with computer vision, augmented reality, or game engines (e.g., unity). Understanding of software systems/driver level software. About The Job As a part of the XR Graphics team, you will build the graphics tools and render pipeline for the Android XR platform. You will have expertise in various components of the graphics stack, including shader compilers, graphics Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), tools, and drivers. You will collaborate with key application developers and hardware providers to optimize the performance of the graphics stack. You will develop and recommend graphics best practices for XR and other rendering environments. You will work with a variety of graphics hardware and low level APIs, each with their own unique issues. You will have experience with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and real-time graphics and are adept at squeezing out maximum performance from GPUs. As a Software Engineer for Android XR, you will leverage their GPU and metal expertise to optimize and enhance performance on iOS. Your work will consist of low-level graphics details, requiring knowledge of the hardware and relevant APIs. For decades, the computing revolution has reshaped our world driven by breakthroughs in compute, connectivity, mobile, and now, AI. Google's XR team is at the forefront of the next major leap – the convergence of AI and XR. This is more than just new devices – it's about reimagining how we interact with the world around us. We're building a future where lightweight XR devices like smart glasses and headsets pair with helpful AI to augment human intelligence, offering personalized, conversational, and contextually aware experiences. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $207,000-$300,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google . Responsibilities Adapt, build, and launch first-party XR experiences for iPhones paired with next-generation wearables by developing an open-source, low-level GPU profiler that can scale across multiple XR hardware devices. Develop and hyper-optimize the rendering backends for XR's 3D engine. Refine and extend the programming model for Vulkan graphics rendering on mobile. Develop low level software for graphics: shaders for distortion correction, rendering algorithms for the "reality" part of virtual reality (VR), system software architecture and performance. Design, build, and launch cross-platform XR APIs and Software Development Kits (SDKs) at the intersection of graphics APIs, graphics drivers, and 3D processing. Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Google's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form .