Cesar Saez

• Technical Leadership, Team Management, Mentorship & Hiring
• Cross-platform Development (C++ / Python)
• AI/ML (PyTorch, Vision Models)
• Production Tooling & Pipelines
• USD, Qt, Nuke, Real-Time Compositing
• Git, CI/CD, Linux, Docker

Foundry, London

Lead Software Engineer, Katana

Jul 2025 – Present

• Leading a cross-functional Scrum team responsible for the evolution of Katana, Foundry’s flagship look development and lighting tool.
• Acting as line manager for engineers and QA, supporting team growth, performance, and development through mentorship and regular feedback.
• Collaborating with product and UX stakeholders to define feature scope, drive estimation and phasing, and align development with customer needs.
• Guiding technical direction across Katana’s C++/Python codebase, focusing on performance, usability, and modern production pipeline requirements.
• Enabling modern scene pipeline workflows through integration of Universal Scene Description (USD) and scalable asset APIs.
• Maintaining a hands-on role in the development of new features, infrastructure, and cross-platform tooling (Linux, Windows).
• Reporting progress, risks, and technical milestones to both internal leadership and non-technical stakeholders.
• Supporting customer-facing interactions by helping translate artist workflows and feedback into actionable technical direction.

Foundry, London

Lead Research Engineer, AI

Jul 2022 - Jul 2025

• Led two AI Research teams integrating ML features into Foundry’s product line (including Nuke).
• Conducted 1:1s and performance reviews; advocated for promotions and supported professional growth for direct reports.
• Co-developed a structured hiring process with an evaluation framework used across the research org, improving consistency and scalability of hiring.
• Helped scale AI Research from 1 to 4 teams by aligning agile practices and leading cross-team sprint reviews and retrospectives.
• Coordinated with product, design, and engineering teams to align timelines and shape roadmap feasibility.
• Represented the team in quarterly exec reviews (QBRs), helping communicate progress and direction to leadership.
• Designed and maintained a shared ML infrastructure library (exchange formats, inference abstractions) enabling integration of AI-powered features across Foundry products beyond Nuke.
• Delivered artist-facing features (e.g. CopyCat, Inference, Cattery), improving workflow speed and accessibility.
• Created a C++ onboarding video series adopted across Foundry Engineering, streamlining internal training and knowledge sharing.

Foundry, London

Senior Research Engineer, Real-Time

Sep 2020 – Jul 2022

• Co-led prototype efforts for Nuke Stage, a real-time compositing tool for Virtual Production.
• Focused on GPU-driven compositing effects and camera tracking integration for virtual production scenarios.
• Joined early prototyping of Nuke’s new 3D system based on USD, work that led to the redesign now shipping in Nuke 14+.

DNEG, London

Software Engineer, R&D

Aug 2019 – Sep 2020

• Built core libraries and asset resolution systems for the Scene Description platform, based on USD.
• Focused on performance and thread safety in high-concurrency environments for asset versioning.
• Collaborated across pipeline, layout, and tools teams to support studio-wide workflows.

Netflix Animation Studios, Sydney

Software Engineer, R&D

Feb 2016 – Aug 2019

• Developed and maintained in-house rigging and authoring frameworks used across feature animation.
• Developed scalable production pipelines using USD, enabling more flexible asset interchange and studio growth.
• Acted as internal consultant across departments, supporting shows like the LEGO movies and Peter Rabbit.

Earlier Career in Animation/VFX

Senior/Lead Character TD, Rigging Supervisor

2005 – 2015

• Held lead and supervisor roles on multiple feature film and TV projects across high-end animation and VFX studios.
• Led cross-functional teams of riggers, animators, and tools developers, often balancing creative demands with technical constraints.
• Oversaw delivery of character setups, tools, and workflows under tight production schedules.
• Introduced and documented standards that improved artist efficiency and reduced shot revisions.
• Collaborated with directors and production to ensure delivery under tight schedules.

Cesar is a skilled software engineer who believes in the craft of coding and has a great understanding of how software fits together. He doesn't settle for what's worked in the past, but is an innovator who searches for newer, better and cooler ways to do things.

I had the pleasure of working with Cesar for The Lego Batman movie and Lego Ninjago Movie. He was a great problem solver and was always looking for ways to improve our processes and pipeline. I depended on him to assist our more entry level team members and he did a great job teaching us new ways to produce better code.

The best assets of Cesar are their creativity in front of problems and his increidble human touch. During his time as Lead Character TD, he worked to provide flexibility and reliability to the rigs, as well as tools for all the departments. Then, he took the helm of the rigging department and thanks to him we were able to work as a solid team, bringing solutions for all the studio, and facing long-term goals for next productions. And after all this, it seems that we only scratch the surface of his ideas and potential.

Cesar has an excellent balance of innovation and productivity. He is always thinking about faster, cleaner and reusable ways to achieve things but never forgets that his tools and rigs will be used by people in a real production. Furthermore, he likes teamwork and is willing to help colleagues. I am lucky to be working with him.

Universidad Central, Chile

B.Sc. in Construction Engineering

2000 - 2005

Passed with Distinction