Production Engineering Intern - Summer 2026 (Open to Canadian Citizens & PR only)

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) invites you to apply to our Production Engineering internship in Vancouver, contributing to the exciting world of visual effects (VFX). Production Engineers build and maintain software for developers and artists, spanning media creation pipelines, software building, deployment, monitoring, and artist-facing tooling in applications like Maya, Nuke, and Katana. This internship offers mentorship, real project contributions, and professional skill development in a fast-paced, collaborative film production environment.

Must Have

• Be a Canadian Citizen or hold Canadian Permanent Resident status
• Currently enrolled in an Undergraduate program at a public Canadian post-secondary institution and returning to studies following the internship
• Work full-time, 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm
• Pursuing a degree in Computer Science or a related field (candidates within one year of graduation are also welcome)
• Proficiency in Linux
• Proficiency in a programming language like Python or C++

Good to Have

• Experience using Maya, Houdini, Katana, Mari or other digital content creation applications
• Proven experience with machine learning, web frameworks, and/or data stores
• Familiarity with industry-standard data formats like OpenEXR, OpenVDB, Alembic, and USD
• Passion for designing artist-friendly interfaces using GUI toolkits: Qt, PySide, QML, etc.
• Appreciation of software development principles: object-oriented design, test-driven development, source code management, build and release processes
• Familiarity with film and video postproduction and/or computer graphics techniques

Perks & Benefits

• Paid 4-month internship
• Mentorship from leaders in the VFX industry
• Opportunity to contribute to real projects
• Develop professional interpersonal skills
• Practical experience in this field

_This role is considered Hybrid, which means the employee will work 2-3 days onsite at a Company designated location and occasionally from home.

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) invites you to apply to our Production Engineering internship and contribute to the exciting world of visual effects (VFX). ILM strives to be an inclusive environment, embracing promising individuals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.

Our interns embody the innovative spirit, creative talent, collaborative mindset, and passion for great filmmaking that defines ILM. If you love art, technology, and sharing knowledge while learning from others, this is the environment for you.

Position Summary

Production Engineers build and maintain software used by other developers and artists within ILM, spanning domains such as our media creation pipeline, software building, deployment and monitoring, as well as artist-facing tooling in digital content creation software such as Maya, Nuke, and Katana.

ILM’s Production Engineering group develops the ground-breaking technology that empowers our artists to create dazzling visuals. ILM’s innovations have won 38 Scientific and Technical Academy Awards®. Today, we are 70+ visually-minded software engineers, working side-by-side with over a thousand digital artists in a fast-paced, intensely collaborative, creative film production environment, across studios in San Francisco, London, Sydney, and Mumbai.

This internship will give you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with a professional engineering environment, receive mentorship from leaders in the VFX industry, and contribute to real projects during your internship. This is a great opportunity to develop professional interpersonal skills as well as practical experience in this field.

We welcome candidates with a passion for applying the latest machine learning technology to these challenges and more!

Applications will close on January 12, 2026.

What You Need to Know

• You must be a Canadian Citizen or hold Canadian Permanent Resident status
• Preference will be given to candidates who are currently enrolled in an Undergraduate program at a public Canadian post-secondary institution and returning to studies following the internship
• This is a paid 4-month internship, beginning May 4, 2026
• This role is considered Hybrid, which means you will work onsite at our studio and occasionally from home
• You will be required to work full-time, 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm
• We do not provide assistance for relocation, housing, transportation, or work authorization for internships

What You'll Do

We seek interns to join one of our many Production Engineering teams and help us develop tools and production techniques across all areas of visual effects and feature animation production:

• Image processing, compositing, and rotoscoping, including depth estimation, image segmentation, generative in-painting, and plate relighting
• Simulating natural phenomena, rigid-body destruction, crowds and procedural animation
• Lighting, texturing, look-development, and layered material definition
• Modelling, rigging, and animation of bodies and faces, including soft-body dynamic simulation of cloth, hair, and flesh
• Tools, structures, and pipeline systems that define how artists assemble and manage massively complex 3D scenes, and user interfaces for authoring, validating, publishing, and tracking 3D and 2D data as it moves through a network of automated batch processes
• Develop tools and/or services for one of our Production Engineering teams
• Work with engineers across all of ILM’s studios, splitting time between long-term software development projects and day-to-day artist support, consultation, and problem-solving

What We’re Looking For

• Pursuing a degree in Computer Science or a related field (candidates within one year of graduation are also welcome)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with strong interpersonal skills
• Proficiency in Linux as well as a programming language like Python or C++
• Passion for applying technology to film and visual effects
• Ability to work autonomously and in team settings with a positive, pro-active attitude
• Nice to have:
• Experience using Maya, Houdini, Katana, Mari or other digital content creation applications.
• Proven experience with machine learning, web frameworks, and/or data stores
• Familiarity with industry-standard data formats like OpenEXR, OpenVDB, Alembic, and USD
• Passion for designing artist-friendly interfaces using GUI toolkits: Qt, PySide, QML, etc. You don’t need to be a professional UX designer, but you should have a keen sense for how creative people use technology to work together in production
• Appreciation of software development principles: object-oriented design, test-driven development, source code management, build and release processes
• Familiarity with film and video postproduction and/or computer graphics techniques is highly desired

The pay rate for this role is C$30.00 per hour. Select benefits may be provided as part of the compensation package, such as medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.