Image Scientist - Camera Simulation

San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States Hardware

Do you love taking on big challenges that require exceptionally creative solutions? Do you deeply understand how an incredible camera experience should work? As part of our Camera Technologies group, you’ll help design the innovative technology that allows each generation of Apple products to produce photos even more incredible than the last. You’ll design and develop groundbreaking ideas for everything involved in our camera systems, from sensor to lens.

You’ll collaborate with teams across Apple to research, design, develop, test, and qualify camera hardware for Apple products. Together, we’ll craft a magical photography experience that redefines what millions of customers can expect from their cameras.

The Image Sciences team, a part of the Camera Hardware and Depth Team, develops novel metrology, calibration, and simulation processes to enable the implementation and architecture of machine-vision-driven and photographic experiences. We collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to define hardware design specifications and key performance metrics to deliver seamless user experiences. The team is seeking an expert in imaging, computer vision, or rendering with broad skills to help develop next-generation, high-throughput simulation frameworks to guide the design and architecture of products, including AR/VR features.

As an Image Scientist on the Camera & Depth Architecture team, you will design, develop, and maintain high-throughput simulation frameworks to generate large volumes of synthetic imagery on-demand, and build and refine models of camera systems—from sensor to lens—to simulate real-world imaging performance.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define hardware design specifications and key performance metrics for photographic and machine-vision applications.
• Conduct simulation studies to characterize end-to-end performance (hardware and software) and guide product architecture decisions.
• Partner with metrology and calibration teams to ensure simulation accuracy reflects real-world hardware behavior and communicate findings and recommendations to stakeholders across hardware, software, and product teams and manage project deliverables and schedules to meet commitments.

• BS and a minimum of 3+ years relevant industry experience in Optics, Physics, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• Programming experience in at least one of the coding languages: C, C++, Python, or Matlab.
• Experience with one or more of the following:
  Optics: imaging system design, Computer Vision, computational imaging, or similar.
• Experience with algorithms for image quality enhancement.

• MS/PhD degree in Optics, Physics, Electrical Engineering or related field and relevant industry experience in Optics or Image Signal Processing.
• Experience in project management and/or driving projects independently in ambiguous problem spaces.
• Published research in imaging, computational photography, or computer vision.
• Experience with camera sensor physics, noise modeling, or radiometry.
• Experience with synthetic data generation for ML training pipelines, model optimization and/or deployment, related to imaging and data analyses.
• Experience with GPU computing (CUDA, OpenCL) or distributed processing at scale.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $147,400 and $272,100, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including:
Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted…