Job Details
Software Engineer, CAD File Format
2025-09-10 ZOO Los Angeles,CA
Description:
We're looking for a Software Engineer to help design and implement our own file format. Most CAD and graphics file formats are lossy in one way or another and we aim to create the file format for modern learning about previous file formats, their problems, edge cases, reverse engineering undocumented file formats, and finding and solving undocumented behaviors. We are a small startup so there are lots of opportunities to add a lot of value and design systems that will scale with the company in the future.
What You'll Do
The salary range for this role is provided below. The final offer will depend on multiple factors including candidate experience, skills, expertise, and market data. Compensation may vary by geography. In addition to salary, we offer competitive equity as well as a full benefits package which may vary by geography as well.
Salary Range
$149,000-$189,000 USD
Zoo is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. The Zoo team is made up of incredibly talented and unique individuals from across the globe. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, Veteran status, age, or any other trait that unfairly targets a group of people. We encourage everyone interested in our mission to apply!
About Us
We're on a mission to revolutionize the CAD industry by developing the world's most advanced hardware design infrastructure and tools. Mechanical CAD is in the dark ages, and hardware demands have outpaced today's hardware design infrastructure. The industry is due for a refresh, and we're laying the foundation for a modern hardware design toolkit so that you can create new design tools never before possible.
We are headquartered in Los Angeles, CA with both a local and remote team. We were founded and incubated by Embedded Ventures in 2021.
About You
We're looking for curious, innovative, and ambitious self-starters to join our lean and growing team to help us bring our mission to life. We think you'll thrive on our team if you're:
- Curious at your core, with an eagerness to learn and do things differently
- Customer-focused, always thinking about ways to improve the user experience
- Able to operate autonomously and work asynchronously, while also being an effective team player
We're looking for a Software Engineer to help design and implement our own file format. Most CAD and graphics file formats are lossy in one way or another and we aim to create the file format for modern learning about previous file formats, their problems, edge cases, reverse engineering undocumented file formats, and finding and solving undocumented behaviors. We are a small startup so there are lots of opportunities to add a lot of value and design systems that will scale with the company in the future.
What You'll Do
- Help design, develop, optimize, and debug our intermediate file format
- Implement conversions to and from existing file formats
- Develop import and export capabilities from our CAD engine
- Reverse engineer and implement conversions for undocumented file formats
- Debug and optimize performance issues related to file import and export in our systems
- Document functionality and implementation details for production and other engineers
- Improve code quality and test coverage
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field
- Proficiency writing software in Rust, modern C++, or a similar native programming language
- Confidence with higher-level mathematical concepts such as:
- vector calculus
- numerical methods for optimization
- Experience with CAD or graphics file formats (e.g., STEP, IGES, DXF, STL, OBJ, GLTF)
- Experience with Git or a similar version control system
- Experience working on a production system
- Familiarity with writing bindings to/from native libraries (e.g., C bindings for a Rust or C++ library)
- Strong ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Experience with any of the following:
- parametric boundary representations
- spline curves and surfaces
- 3D graphics libraries (e.g., Vulkan, Metal, OpenGL)
- computational geometry
- manufacturing
- topology
- contributing to open-source projects
The salary range for this role is provided below. The final offer will depend on multiple factors including candidate experience, skills, expertise, and market data. Compensation may vary by geography. In addition to salary, we offer competitive equity as well as a full benefits package which may vary by geography as well.
Salary Range
$149,000-$189,000 USD
Zoo is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. The Zoo team is made up of incredibly talented and unique individuals from across the globe. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, Veteran status, age, or any other trait that unfairly targets a group of people. We encourage everyone interested in our mission to apply!