Lead Lighting Artist

At Turtle Rock, we make the games we want to play. We're dedicated to providing a collaborative environment where our team members feel empowered with the creative freedom to contribute and grow. While we are based in Orange County, CA, we support flexible work arrangements ranging from in-studio, hybrid, to fully remote throughout North America. Join our award-winning game development team and help create our next AAA title.

We are looking for a Lead Lighting Artist to be a part of our Art team. As a Lead Lighting Artist, you will be responsible for overseeing the lighting design and implementation across various environments, levels, and scenes to help enhance the visual appeal, atmosphere, mood and gameplay of the environments and game. The right candidate for this position looks for opportunities to mentor and coach their team, while collaborating across disciplines to ensure gameplay spaces look visually interesting, are fun to play, and provide unforgettable experiences for our players. This role will report to the Art Director (Maps & Gameplay).

Responsibilities

• Lead the Lighting team: maintain consistency across the department providing direction and feedback, ensuring all team members understand their role in the department and know what is expected of them
• Oversee the lighting design and implementation across various environments, levels, and scenes to help enhance the visual appeal, atmosphere, mood, and gameplay of the environments and game
• Work closely with the Creative Director and Art Directors to establish visual standards and lighting style guide
• Collaborate with level designers, environment artists, and other departments to implement lighting, review scenes as a whole, and maintain high-quality bar for all assets throughout the world
• Work with department leads to build asset viewer maps and establish standards for content creation that follow PBR standards
• Work closely with Tech Art and Engineering to set standards and ensure lighting effects are visually appealing while maintaining acceptable frame rates and performance metrics 
• Work closely with department manager to provide mentorship and coaching for Lighting team members including but not limited to: 1:1s, career development, performance evaluations, and goal-setting
• Playtest with the studio and the Lighting team to review and iterate lighting aspects throughout the game

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in game development with one or more shipped titles on multiple platforms in a senior/principal or leadership role for game environments
• A strong portfolio that demonstrates experience lighting environments and characters for AAA games
• Strong leadership, mentoring, and teaching skills
• Strong ability to interpret and adapt to general and flexible direction. Can thrive in a highly collaborative, team-oriented environment
• Must be comfortable taking on responsibility for the development of complex lighting solutions and guiding the team to consistently achieve the quality bar
• Demonstrated experience working with Unreal Engine 5 and modern art pipelines
• Demonstrated experience working with realistic art styles
• Keen production sensibilities, ability to collaborate on timelines and communicate with Production and team members on task duration and prioritization
• Ability to maintain high-quality and consistent progress
• Proficiency with PBR 
• A passion for games and lighting impact in game environment

Benefits

Some of the benefits and perks our employees get to enjoy, include:

• 100% Medical, Dental, Vision Coverage for you and your family
• 401k Matching
• Profit Sharing Plan
• Student Loan Repayment Plan / College Savings Plan
• Career Improvement Plan
• Flexible Work Arrangements - In-House, Hybrid, and Remote
• Generous Time Off Policy
• Company Events - In-Person Summer Family Bash + Halloween Party + Virtual Events
• Fully Stocked Kitchen + Sponsored Food Trucks

The estimated base pay range for this role is: $135,000—$180,000 USD

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Benefits

Some of the benefits and perks our employees get to enjoy, include:

• 100% Medical, Dental, Vision Coverage for you and your family
• 401k Matching
• Student Loan Repayment Plan / College Savings Plan
• Career Improvement Plan
• Flexible Work Arrangements - In-House, Hybrid, and Remote
• Generous Time Off Policy
• Company Events - In-Person + Virtual Events
• Fully Stocked Kitchen + Sponsored Food Trucks

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.