64 Lighting Artist jobs in the United States

• Design, implement, and optimize lighting solutions for real-time environments, cinematics, and character assets.
• Collaborate closely with art directors, level designers, and technical artists to achieve desired aesthetic and gameplay goals.
• Develop and maintain lighting assets, including lightmaps, post-processing effects, and global illumination setups.
• Troubleshoot and resolve lighting-related technical issues.
• Mentor junior lighting artists and contribute to the development of best practices and workflows.
• Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies in real-time rendering and lighting.
• Ensure lighting performance is optimized across target platforms.
• Contribute to mood boards and visual development for new projects.
• Implement and refine volumetric lighting, atmospheric effects, and lens flares to enhance realism and mood.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in lighting for video games or interactive media.
• Proficiency in industry-standard DCC tools (e.g., Maya, 3ds Max) and game engines (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity).
• Strong understanding of physically based rendering (PBR) principles and their application to lighting.
• Excellent eye for detail, composition, and color theory.
• Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Mel) is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Portfolio showcasing exceptional lighting work is required.

• Developing and implementing advanced lighting techniques and shaders to enhance visual fidelity.
• Setting up and optimizing lighting for real-time rendering environments, ensuring performance targets are met.
• Creating mood boards, style guides, and technical documentation for lighting pipelines.
• Providing mentorship and guidance to junior lighting artists, fostering skill development within the team.
• Troubleshooting and resolving complex lighting issues across multiple projects.
• Staying abreast of the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices in real-time rendering and lighting.
• Contributing to the continuous improvement of lighting tools and workflows.
• Collaborating with the art department to define and maintain the artistic direction of projects.
• Balancing artistic vision with technical constraints to deliver high-quality results.
• Participating in art reviews and providing constructive feedback.

• Lead and mentor a team of lighting artists, providing artistic direction and technical guidance.
• Develop and maintain lighting and rendering pipelines, optimizing for performance and quality.
• Collaborate closely with art directors, level designers, and technical artists to achieve the desired visual aesthetic.
• Create stunning and evocative lighting setups for characters, environments, and cinematics.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex lighting and rendering issues.
• Stay abreast of the latest advancements in real-time rendering technologies and workflows.
• Contribute to the development of proprietary tools and shaders to enhance lighting capabilities.
• Ensure consistency and quality across all assets and scenes.
• Participate in art reviews and provide constructive feedback.
• Manage project timelines and deliverables related to lighting tasks.

• Proven experience as a Lighting Artist or Lead Lighting Artist in the game development or animation industry.
• Strong portfolio showcasing exceptional lighting and rendering skills in a PBR (Physically Based Rendering) environment.
• Expertise in industry-standard lighting and rendering software such as Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Arnold, V-Ray, or similar.
• Proficiency with game engines like Unreal Engine or Unity, particularly their lighting and rendering systems.
• Solid understanding of color theory, composition, and visual storytelling.
• Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python, MEL) is a plus.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, fast-paced team environment.
• A passion for creating visually stunning and immersive experiences.

Snail Games strives to create the new high bar for gameplay experience in online gaming. We have been a global developer and publisher of digital entertainment since 2009 and are committed to pushing the boundaries of the industry. We are currently seeking a Junior Full-Stack Engineer to join a small, focused team building next-generation game development tools. You’ll work closely with senior developers and technical leadership to prototype, build, and refine core systems that empower our creative teams.

This role is designed for high-potential engineers with strong fundamentals, a passion for making things, and the drive to grow fast. If you've built ambitious personal projects, worked across multiple layers of a tech stack, and love the challenge of building systems that developers want to use, this is your shot.

Job Type: Full-Time
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

**Hybrid or Remote
Remote may be considered in the following states:
**Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

• Work with senior engineers to implement full-stack tools and workflows used by internal teams

• Contribute to both UI/frontend and backend logic, integrating databases, file systems, or APIs as needed

• Help build node-based editors, map tools, and visual scripting systems

• Prototype ideas rapidly and iterate based on technical and user feedback

• Assist with debugging, testing, and polishing systems for internal use

• Document and maintain features as part of a growing toolchain

• Strong programming fundamentals (data structures, algorithms, OOP, debugging)

• Familiarity with at least one game engine (eg. Unreal, Unity, or proprietary)

• Experience building software projects through personal work, academic coursework, or professional roles, with attention to usability and long-term maintainability

• Proficient in C++, with additional experience in scripting or systems-level languages such as Rust, Python, JavaScript, or C# considered a plus

• Interest in building tools or platforms that empower other creators to build their own content

• Comfortable thinking about how technical decisions affect end-user workflows and long-term support

• Excited to contribute in a collaborative and rapidly evolving development environment

• Eagerness to grow, experiment, and contribute meaningfully to a small team

• Experience building or extending editor tools or custom pipelines

• Previous shipped projects to show off (personal, game jam, or commercial)

• Understanding of databases, networking, or multi-platform deployment

• Exposure to AI/ML toolchains or visual scripting systems

• True focus on work/life balance

• Paid company holidays, vacation, and separate sick leave

• We offer medical, dental, vision, and Life/LTD

• 401k with company match

Salary Range: $70,000 to $95,000

If you’re a hands-on builder ready to take the next step in your engineering career, we’d love to hear from you.

• Design, implement, and maintain scalable, efficient C++ systems across gameplay, UI, tools, audio, graphics, and engine subsystems
• Drive architecture discussions and decisions, helping guide projects toward maintainable, high-performing codebases
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including design, production, QA, and publishing to ensure alignment with technical goals and player experience
• Mentor other engineers through code reviews, design consultations, and technical guidance
• Profile and optimize CPU, GPU, and memory performance across platforms
• Lead debugging efforts for complex issues including concurrency, memory corruption, and platform-specific bugs
• Contribute to and help evolve Aspyr's cross-platform technology stack for Apple (macOS/iOS), Win32, and beyond
• Write and maintain high-quality technical documentation

• Degree in Computer Science, Math, or related discipline(s), or equivalent industry experience
• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including cross-platform development
• Deep expertise in C++ and strong architectural skills
• Extensive experience with concurrency, threading, and synchronization
• Proven track record in performance optimization and memory management
• Experience mentoring and providing technical leadership within engineering teams
• Strong collaboration and communication skills across disciplines

• Creating high-quality character and environment animations for games.
• Collaborating with the art and design teams to achieve the desired visual style and gameplay feel.
• Implementing animations within the game engine, ensuring optimal performance and integration.
• Rigging characters and props for animation.
• Developing and maintaining animation pipelines and workflows.
• Providing feedback and mentorship to junior animators.
• Troubleshooting and resolving animation-related issues.
• Staying current with the latest animation techniques and industry trends.
• Contributing to the overall creative direction of the game's visual presentation.

• Lead the design, creation, and implementation of all visual effects (VFX), including magical spells, explosions, environmental effects, and atmospheric phenomena.
• Develop and maintain a high standard of visual quality and artistic consistency for all VFX assets.
• Mentor, guide, and provide constructive feedback to a team of VFX artists, fostering their artistic and technical development.
• Collaborate with game designers to integrate VFX seamlessly into gameplay mechanics and player experiences.
• Work closely with technical artists and programmers to optimize VFX performance for target platforms without compromising visual fidelity.
• Create compelling concept art and mood boards for VFX to establish the visual direction.
• Develop and refine VFX pipelines, tools, and workflows to enhance efficiency and quality.
• Manage VFX asset creation schedules and ensure timely delivery of assets in collaboration with the production team.
• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and new software for VFX creation.
• Contribute to the overall art direction and vision of the game.
• Troubleshoot technical issues related to VFX implementation and performance.
• Animate and composite complex particle systems and simulations.
• Create high-quality textures, shaders, and materials for VFX elements.
• Conduct performance profiling and optimization for VFX assets across all target platforms.

• A strong portfolio showcasing exceptional real-time VFX work for games, demonstrating artistic skill, technical proficiency, and creative flair.
• 5+ years of experience in the game industry as a VFX Artist, with at least 1-2 years in a lead or senior capacity.
• Proficiency in industry-standard 3D software such as Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini.
• Expertise in particle systems and simulation software.
• Advanced knowledge of real-time rendering techniques and game engines (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity).
• Strong understanding of color theory, composition, lighting, and animation principles.
• Experience with texture creation tools like Substance Painter and Photoshop.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and team management skills.
• Ability to provide clear and constructive feedback to artists.
• Experience with scripting languages (e.g., Python) for tool development is a plus.
• Passion for video games and a deep understanding of game development pipelines.
• Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Computer Graphics, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.