Undead Labs | Technical Artist – Lighting

We are looking for an experienced

Senior Technical Artist – Lighting

to bring their artistic and technical ability to the next generation of State of Decay. Using Unreal Engine, you will help us push the boundaries of our world’s lighting from concept to finished product. If you are an enthusiastic, driven lighting artist with proven technical ability who loves to work in a fast-paced collaborative environment, we want to talk with you.

At Undead Labs, we work in highly collaborative, cross-disciplined teams because we understand that the best ideas are ones we generate together. We are humble and curious in our work and are always striving to make things better – for our players, for each other, and for our industry. Everyone here is committed to helping the team thrive, enabling us to rise to the moment to build incredible games.

Core Responsibilities & Objectives:

• Maintain a systemic mindset for every aspect of development to integrate lighting, atmosphere, and rendering with the rest of our highly systemic game and systems environments.
• Contribute to the development of lighting tools and processes that help achieve the product’s visual style and encourage artistic technical evolution within the studio.
• Create lighting setups, tools, shaders, and workflows as needed to increase the lighting team’s efficiency and work quality.
• Fix lighting bugs and implement root cause solutions.
• Takes initiative in providing input on the technical methods to achieve the artistic goals and vision. This involves taking and giving clear and valid criticism, all while maintaining an empathic outlook to other teams and individuals. If clarity is not present the candidate must be able to seek it out until obtained.
• Serves as a technical resource for all phases of production and other studio art needs. This includes, but is not limited to conducting general research, developing innovative tools and techniques, and testing new systems or tools. Providing training, transmitting industry related information, and conveying concerns in a constructive way by providing solutions to those concerns.

Core Traits & Experience:

• Proven and recurring success in a technical lighting role with a solid portfolio highlighting lighting and look development.
• Proven time management skills, with the ability to break down tasks and assignments and prioritize them into workable pieces on a daily, weekly, and project length basis. While you will receive ample support in both art and technical direction from the Lighting Lead, you will be expected to work independently and conscientiously with minimal supervision and potentially lead assigned tool development efforts when needed.
• Strong data management skills, with the ability to manage and track substantial amounts of data as they go through the art pipeline with attention to naming conventions, directory structures, and other processes.
• Strong technical and artistic understanding real time rendering methodology, global illumination, physical lighting, dynamic light occlusion, volumetric atmospherics, luminance, shader creation/ performance, and color theory. Able to create workarounds or develop tools and methodologies when standard engine solutions are not meeting expectations or art targets.
• Ability to speak to and work well with diverse types of devs be they engineers, designers, narrative, or artists. You will function as a necessary bridge between various groups on the team and facilitate communication between these groups.

Bonus Traits & Experience:

• Experience with creating volumetric weather, atmospheric, and vfx inside of real time engines.
• Experience in authoring volumetric assets such as clouds, fog noise, etc. inside of houdini and rendering out as 3d textures and/ or atlases.
• Experience in building interconnected time of day and weather systems.
• Proficiency in code based scripting and shading languages such as C++, HLSL, Python, etc.
• Previously shipped titles as a technical artist with a lighting, shading, or rendering focus.

Benefits & Perks:

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Undead Labs and the state in which you work.

• 100% Medical, dental, and vision health insurance (Dependents and partners included).
• Unlimited PTO and 18 company holidays & closure days
• 401k plan with 50% matching
• Subsidized transportation to and from work
• Professional growth resources
• Discounts on the Microsoft Games store

The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is

$116,630 – $177,280 a year.

The range above reflects the potential base pay across the U.S. for this role (except as noted below); the applicable base range will depend on various factors, such as complexity and responsibility of the role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. Base pay ranges are reviewed and typically updated each year. Offers are made within the base pay range applicable at the time.

At Undead Labs, certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases and an annual bonus. These awards are allocated based on individual performance. Benefits/perks listed here may vary depending on the nature of employment with Undead Labs.