Research Scientist Graduate; 3D​/4D Reconstruction​/Generation​/Relighting PHD

Research Scientist Graduate (3D/4D Reconstruction/Generation/Relighting) - 2026 Start (PHD)

Location:

San Jose

Team:
Technology

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Code: A34182A

• Participate in research and development of 3D and 4D scene reconstruction/generation algorithms (including dynamic scenes and human subjects), and/or lighting estimation/editing, and promote their application in MR/XR scenarios;
• Develop efficient and scalable 3D/4D reconstruction/generation/relighting pipelines, including task formulation, dataset construction, model training and optimization, inference acceleration, and deployment;
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams at PICO to promote hardware‑software co‑innovation;
• Track the latest research progress in 3D vision and computer graphics, and contribute to papers and patents.

Minimum Qualifications

• Final year Ph.D. or recent Ph.D. graduates in Computer Science, engineering or quantitative field;
• Excellent programming skills, proficient in C++ or Python;
• Solid foundation in 3D Computer Vision and/or Computer Graphics, including:
  • Multi‑view reconstruction (e.g., MVS, LRM);
  • 3D/4D representations (e.g., NeRF, Gaussian Splatting);
  • Familiarity with ray tracing and rasterization‑based offline or real‑time rendering algorithms is a plus;
  • Knowledge in rendering is a plus, including fundamentals, digital asset creation and analysis (e.g. Blender, UE, Mitsuba), Image‑based rendering and lighting (I , IBL), and lighting estimation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience or deep understanding of NeRF or 3D Gaussian Splatting (3
  
  DGS), including:
  • Familiarity with 3
    
    DGS variants such as Mip‑Splatting and 3
    
    DGS‑MCMC;
  • Understanding of dynamic Gaussian, 4
    
    DGS reconstruction, volumetric video, and feed‑forward 3D/4D generation algorithms;
  • Research or project experience in high‑fidelity, efficient training, or compact 3D/4D representation.
• Familiarity with downstream applications of 3D/4
  
  DGS, including:
  • GS Relighting (e.g., Gaussian Shader, GIR, Intrinsic Avatar);
  • GS Editing (e.g., Gaussian Grouping, Gaussian Editor).
• Knowledge of inverse rendering and lighting estimation, including learning‑ and optimization‑based models such as Differentiable Path Tracing and Physically‑based Inverse Rendering;
• Familiarity with computational imaging pipelines, including sensor fusion, exposure bracketing, tone mapping, and color management for mobile camera systems;
• Publications in top‑tier conferences or journals (CVPR, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, NeurIPS, etc.) are a plus;
• Winners or high performers in programming or algorithmic competitions such as ACM‑ICPC, NOI/IOI, or Top Coder are highly preferred.

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The base salary range for this position in the selected city is $136,800 - $259,200 annually.

Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience, and location. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work, and this role may be eligible for additional discretionary bonuses/incentives, and restricted stock units.

Employees have day one access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with company match, paid parental leave, short‑term and long‑term disability coverage, life insurance, wellbeing benefits, among others. Employees also receive 10 paid holidays per year, 10 paid sick days per year and 17 days of Paid Personal Time (prorated upon hire with increasing accruals by tenure).

The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job…