Apple wants a Vision Pro research software engineer to build science apps

The right candidate will have at least four years of experience with low-level systems programming languages, and experience with architecture, debugging, and optimization. Apple said it's hoping to find someone with experience with research engineering tasks like rapid prototyping, lab instrumentation and data collection, and data visualization.

The call for new engineering talent comes amidst Apple's efforts to develop the Vision Pro hardware and software following a public preview at June's Worldwide Developer Conference. Even as development of the core technology moves ahead in Cupertino, Apple is bringing third-party developers up to speed with early builds of visionOS.

Yeah, Twitter is dying, but did you know my team working on Vision Pro at Apple is hiring for a research software engineer? We're looking for experienced low-level folks who want to write software for science! https://t.co/ub0kJZ1Aiy pic.twitter.com/P55ouqDj1u

— Dimitri Diakopoulos (@ddiakopoulos) August 2, 2023

But so far, developers working on visionOS apps are relegated to doing so in emulation, as no one outside of Apple has the gear in hand yet. That may be changing soon, however.

In late July, Apple revealed the process for acquiring a development kit. Apple isn't guaranteeing early access to all applicants. The company has said that priority will be given to developers making apps that take advantage of visionOS features and capabilities.

Apple first listed the research software engineer position on July 27th, though Apple research engineering manager Dmitri Diakopoulos posted a link to the listing through his Twitter account on Tuesday. Diakopoulos is a veteran of Intel and Adobe who briefly worked for Meta's Oculus VR team prior to joining Apple in 2019.