Senior Technical Lighting Artist - Unreal Engine

Senior Technical Lighting Artist - Unreal Engine

Remote · Full-time · B2B or employment · Co-dev model

We are looking for a Senior Technical Lighting Artist with strong Unreal Engine experience and a solid understanding of real-time lighting, rendering, and environment systems.

This role is not about relying on plugins or presets to quickly create a good-looking result. We are looking for someone who understands the core Unreal Engine components behind the look, knows what key parameters do, and can diagnose lighting, rendering, exposure, shadow, fog, and Time of Day issues in production.

This is a hands-on co-development role focused on lighting execution, technical awareness, and close collaboration with client-side Art, Lighting, Tech Art, and Engineering teams. It does not require production ownership or lead-level management support.

You’ll know this is for you if…

• You have strong Unreal Engine lighting experience and understand how real-time lighting systems are built

• You understand Time of Day systems beyond using plugins, presets, or black-box tools

• You know how direct light, skylight, fog, atmosphere, exposure, shadows, Lumen, Nanite, and performance settings affect each other

• You can navigate Blueprints, Sequencer, World Partition, Data Layers, levels, and sublevels

• You are comfortable diagnosing problems, identifying likely causes, and communicating clearly with Tech Art or Engineering

What you’ll do

• Create, polish, and troubleshoot lighting directly in Unreal Engine

• Work with Time of Day lighting systems and understand how their components interact

• Adjust and balance key components such as Directional Light, Skylight, Sky Atmosphere, Skybox, Exponential Height Fog, Post Process Volumes, Local Exposure, and atmospheric settings

• Use Sequencer to control lighting setups, Day Sequence Volumes, and Time of Day parameters

• Diagnose visual and technical issues related to lighting, rendering, exposure, shadows, fog, atmosphere, and performance

• Work with Unreal rendering systems such as Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, Nanite, LODs, draw distances, and light complexity

• Navigate Blueprints to understand how lighting or environment systems are built and where issues may come from

• Work within level, sublevel, World Partition, and Data Layer setups

• Collaborate with Art Directors, Lighting Artists, Technical Artists, and Engineers to solve production issues

What we’re looking for

• Strong portfolio or reel showing real-time lighting work in Unreal Engine

• Professional experience as a Lighting Artist, Technical Lighting Artist, Technical Artist, Environment Artist with lighting focus, or similar role

• Strong understanding of Unreal Engine lighting workflows and rendering fundamentals

• Practical knowledge of Time of Day systems and how they are usually structured

• Understanding of how direct light, skylight, sky, fog, atmosphere, exposure, post process, and shadows work together

• Good knowledge of Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, Nanite, LODs, draw distances, light complexity, and platform limitations

• Ability to diagnose visual and technical problems, even when the final fix requires Tech Art or Engineering support

• Ability to use plugins when helpful, without relying on them as a black box

• Clear written English and comfort working in a fully remote, client-facing co-development model

Key technical knowledge

The ideal candidate should understand how these systems work, why they are used, and how they affect each other:

• Time of Day Lighting Systems

• Directional Light, Skylight, Sky Atmosphere, Skybox, Exponential Height Fog

• Post Process Volumes, exposure, and Local Exposure

• Sequencer and Day Sequence Volumes

• Lumen, including limitations and supported platforms

• Virtual Shadow Maps and shadow-related artifacts

• Nanite, LODs, draw distances, visibility, and light complexity

• Blueprints used for lighting, environment, or Time of Day systems

• Level structure, sublevels, World Partition, Data Layers, and streaming

Nice to have

• Experience with dynamic Time of Day systems

• Experience with large open-world or semi-open-world Unreal Engine projects

• Experience profiling or debugging lighting and rendering performance

• Strong cinematic and gameplay lighting sense

• Console or performance-constrained platform experience

• Basic Blueprint scripting knowledge

• Experience working closely with Tech Art or Engineering teams

What we offer

• Co-development work on technically interesting Unreal Engine projects

• Direct impact on lighting quality, readability, and rendering consistency

• Close collaboration with experienced client-side Art, Lighting, Tech Art, and Engineering teams

• Fully remote work with flexible contract options: B2B or employment

• Opportunity to work on hard-to-find, technically demanding lighting challenges

• Collaborative, production-focused environment

• Annual team retreat focused on alignment, learning, and team bonding

To apply: send your portfolio or lighting reel and a short note describing one Unreal Engine lighting setup you worked on, what systems were involved, and what technical challenges you had to solve. No cover letter required.