Contract Senior Lighting Artist (Unreal Engine)

ArenaNet is seeking an experienced Contract Senior Lighting Artist with a strong foundation in Unreal Engine to own lighting for large open-world environments and cinematics. This role involves bringing spaces to life through lighting that aligns with concept art, supports gameplay readability, and integrates with systemic features like time of day and weather. The artist will collaborate closely with the Lead Lighting Artist and a team focused on artistic growth and creative problem-solving, ensuring a unified visual direction. Proactivity, communication, and cross-disciplinary collaboration are key, with a focus on real-time and cinematic lighting.

Must Have

• Own lighting for major open-world environments and cinematics.
• Establish and maintain a cohesive lighting vision.
• Create lighting supporting mood, storytelling, and artistic direction.
• Ensure lighting supports gameplay needs like readability and navigation.
• Integrate lighting with systemic runtime features (time of day, weather).
• Collaborate with environment art, character art, design, tech art, and engineering.
• Apply real-world photographic concepts (exposure, temperature, contrast).
• Use Blueprints to build and refine lighting systems and controls.
• Contribute to a supportive and knowledge-sharing team culture.
• Strong understanding of color science, colorgrading, and colorspaces.
• 8+ years professional experience as a Lighting Artist with a shipped AAA title.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality environment and cinematic lighting.
• Experience lighting in Unreal Engine on at least two shipped titles.
• Strong understanding of exposure, color, photographic lighting, and artistic composition.
• Ability to work collaboratively and communicate lighting goals clearly.
• Experience with Blueprint based lighting functionality and workflow scripting.

Good to Have

• Experience generating sky or atmospheric assets (e.g., Houdini).
• Material or mask authoring experience in Substance Designer.
• Familiarity with color management workflows and OCIO pipelines.
• Experience with volumetrics, atmospherics, and light scattering approaches.

Perks & Benefits

• Medical coverage
• Dental coverage
• Vision coverage
• 401(k) plan
• Flexible spending accounts
• Dependent care spending accounts

Contract Senior Lighting Artist (Unreal Engine)

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide.

ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine.

We are looking for an experienced Lighting Artist with a strong foundation in Unreal Engine who can take ownership of lighting across large open world environments. This artist will be responsible for bringing spaces to life through lighting that meets concept art direction, supports gameplay readability, and integrates well with systemic features such as time of day, weather, and other dynamic states. You will work closely with the Lead Lighting Artist and be part of a collaborative lighting team that values nurturing artistic growth, personal development, and shared creative problem solving. We champion artists pursuing excellence and expressing their own artistic voice while contributing to a unified visual direction. This role requires someone who is proactive, communicative, and comfortable working across art, design, tech art, and engineering. Experience in both real time level lighting and cinematic character lighting is important.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own lighting for major areas of the open world environment & cinematics, from initial blockout through final polish.
• Work closely with the Lead Lighting Artist and broader art team to establish and maintain a cohesive lighting vision.
• Create lighting that supports mood, environmental storytelling, and artistic direction.
• Ensure lighting supports gameplay needs such as readability, navigation clarity, and player focus.
• Integrate lighting with systemic runtime features including time of day, weather, and global lighting frameworks.
• Collaborate with environment art, character art, design, tech art, and engineering to develop lighting solutions and workflows.
• Apply real world photographic concepts such as exposure, temperature, contrast, and naturalistic light behavior.
• Use Blueprints to build and refine lighting systems, light functions, controls, and state transitions.
• Contribute to a supportive and knowledge sharing team culture, helping elevate lighting quality across the project.
• Strong understanding of color science, colorgrading & colorspaces.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• 8+ years of professional experience as a Lighting Artist, with at least one shipped AAA title.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating high quality environment and cinematic lighting.
• Experience lighting in Unreal Engine on at least two shipped titles.
• Strong understanding of exposure, color, photographic lighting techniques, and artistic composition.
• Ability to work collaboratively and communicate lighting goals clearly across multiple disciplines
• Experience with Blueprint based lighting functionality and workflow scripting.

PLUSES

• Experience generating sky or atmospheric assets (for example using Houdini).
• Material or mask authoring experience in Substance Designer.
• Familiarity with color management workflows and OCIO pipelines.
• Experience with volumetrics, atmospherics, and light scattering approaches.

This role is remote-friendly, but we are currently prioritizing candidates who are local to the Bellevue, WA area and open to occasional onsite collaboration.

Applications will be accepted until Friday, January 30th by 10am PT. If the deadline is extended, the posting will be updated accordingly. If the position is filled before this date, the posting will be removed.

This contract position is paid hourly, with additional overtime compensation when applicable. While we’re providing the full range for transparency, our target hiring rate generally falls between the minimum and midpoint of that range.

This role is eligible for benefits through our third-party employing agency, which may include medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k) plan, and flexible and dependent care spending accounts.

Hourly Pay Range

$67.43 - $104.52 USD

Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.