XR Graphics Engineer Intern – XR Graphics Development

Job Description

3D Graphics Engineer Intern (PICO Foundation) – 2026 Summer | ByteDance

The Tone:
This is an internship at ByteDance, a global technology company founded in 2012 with a mission to inspire creativity and enrich life. ByteDance offers a diverse suite of products, including TikTok, Lemon8, CapCut, and Pico, alongside market-specific platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua, all designed to facilitate connection, content consumption, and creation. Internships at ByteDance are structured to provide students with significant industry exposure and hands-on experience, supporting the development of fundamental skills and exploration of potential career paths over a 12-week period. This specific role is within the PICO Foundation team, which is responsible for building core technologies essential for immersive XR experiences. The intern will be instrumental in creating and optimizing XR technologies across various software stacks, empowering developers, and contributing to the advancement of XR applications by exploring, researching, and building innovative new 3D graphics solutions. Through this, the intern will apply knowledge in real-world scenarios, laying a strong foundation for personal and professional growth within a vibrant environment that includes social events and development workshops.

The TL;DR
• Role: Internship
• Type: Seasonal
• Pay: $45–$60 hourly
• Team: PICO Foundation team, focusing on core XR technologies and optimizing software stacks.
• Mission: Contribute to creating and optimizing XR technologies by developing and researching innovative 3D graphics solutions.
• Tech Stack: Vulkan, OpenGL, C++

What You’ll Actually Do
• Development: Develop high-performance XR graphics features for immersive experiences, contributing to cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality environments.
• Software Engineering: Engineer and optimize PICO XR system software, ensuring robust and efficient operation of the core XR platform.
• Tool Creation: Create specialized graphics and performance analysis tools, aiding in the identification and resolution of performance bottlenecks and graphical issues.
• Research & Reporting: Organize and analyze research data, compile comprehensive technical reports, and prepare findings for potential publication in research papers, contributing to the advancement of XR graphics knowledge.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Currently pursuing an Undergraduate or Master’s degree in Software Development, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Experience: Ability to commit to working for 12 weeks during Summer 2026, coupled with prior experience in 3D graphics rendering.
• Skills: A strong understanding of Vulkan or OpenGL, and robust C++ programming skills.
• Bonus: Published papers at top conferences/journals such as CVPR or SIGGRAPH, or familiarity with Qualcomm SOC and low-level GPU profiling libraries.