Lead Lighting Artist - Remote

Company Description

People Can Fly, one of the leading independent AAA games development studios. Our international team consists of hundreds of talented individuals who work from offices in Poland, the UK, Ireland, the US, and Canada, as well as from all over the world thanks to our remote work programs.

Founded in 2002, we made our mark on the shooter genre with titles such as Painkiller, Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, and Outriders. We are one of the most experienced Unreal Engine studios in the industry and we are expanding it with in-house solutions called PCF Framework.

Our creative teams are currently working on several exciting titles: Gemini, a project being developed with Square Enix; Gears of War: E-Day developed in collaboration with Microsoft Corporation; Project Echo for Krafton; Bifrost & Lost Rift are projects we're growing in the self-publishing model. We are also busy working on a VR and undisclosed projects, more information on those to come later.

With over 20 years of experience, PCF sets out to explore new horizons. We aim to combine our expertise with the creativity of the best and most forward-thinking talents in the industry to work together on the new generation of action games for the global gaming community.

If you decide to accompany us on this journey, you’ll have a chance to perfect your craft and expand your knowledge, working alongside leaders in the industry on bringing a brand-new, unique experience to players worldwide.

Project Maverick is an unannounced AAA game developed with Microsoft. Game development is done by our European and North American teams.

Job Description

Main goal of the role:

To maintain the aesthetic of the game based on the Art Director vision driven by Concept Art team and execute it with respect to adding lighting and shading elements within playable levels and cinematics.

Duties:

Leadership

• Lead a team and foster an engaging atmosphere within their team to achieve best possible result for the project and personal growth of team members.
• Maintain artistic direction and quality
• Work with the Leads and other Lighting Artists to create high-quality lighting schemes in keeping with the project's universe and visual direction.
• Lighting of scenes or levels based on reference photographs and/or concept art materials.
• Help to drive the narrative storytelling through effective use of color, light and mood. Set lighting standards, quality targets, and conduct visual prototypes. Collaborate on lighting mood boards and visual targets based on the Art Directors vision.
• Establish a development process for the content development teams and to aid in the review purpose.

Production/Deadline

• Ensure the work of the team follows the quality standards and production deadlines. Bug Fixing and describing R&D case studies in the knowledge base.
• Work closely with the production team on tasks assignment and schedule to meet deadlines, also ensuring healthy work-life balance by setting clear expectations and scope of work.
• Supervision of bug fixing and describing R&D case studies in knowledge base.
• Feedback
• Provide day-to-day feedback improvement to visual quality.
• Working with the team to find solutions and creatively solve problems.
• Collaborating with other disciplines such as VFX artists, level designers, etc. to create a great AAA game experience.

Collaboration/communication

• R&D lighting techniques and optimize lighting setups in order to meet technical limitations and art direction requirements
• Collaborate with Tech Art and drive R&D initiatives, to explore new techniques and implement improvements to pipelines and workflows.
• Collaborates and communicates effectively across departments with other Leads, Directors, and project stakeholders to ensure efficiency and minimize miscommunication.
• Conduct consistent performance and compensation reviews of staff members
• Conduct recruitment projects with HR collaboration
• Conduct onboarding to new hires

Other artistic specificity

• Working with the technical and engineering departments to ensure lighting work is within budget and maintains performance goals.
• Profile existing and future levels to maximize the quality of lighting on characters and environments while staying within performance budgets.
• Review and playtest your work in the editor and in-game.
• Staying updated with latest industry trends in lighting for film and games and mentoring the rest of the team on latest industry trends.
• Ability to make a full lighting system using Blueprints or any other tools.
• Ability to tackle special lighting cases/setups.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

• A strong portfolio showcasing examples of world and local lighting work at a AAA quality.
• Excellent knowledge of industry-standard software packages for modeling, high-poly sculpting (Maya, Max, ZBrush, Photoshop, or their equivalents).
• Artistically interpret concepts or creatively push beyond an initial ideation. A solid understanding of traditional art skills along with foundational design competencies (shape, form, texture, value and color).
• In depth understanding and practical experience of lighting in either real-time game engines or in CGI or VFX productions.
• In depth knowledge of Physically Based Rendering workflows.
• Good understanding of performance limitations and possibilities of current console generation.
• Ability to create all content needed for lighting including but not limited to textures, IES profiles, HDR maps, materials, scripts, etc.
• Understanding of basic photography concepts like EV, shutter speed, ISO, composition, etc.
• Adaptive
• Ability to adapt, and develop specific art style, techniques and workflows with minimum guidance.
• Strong mentoring, coaching and leadership skills.
• Ability to collaborate with department leads, and different departments to solve artistic and technical challenges.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Self-motivation

Software: Photoshop, Unreal Engine

Experience: 7+ years in console or PC game development including 5+ years in unreal engine and prior experience in any leadership capacity.

Additional Information

What we offer:

• Benefit package 100% paid by PCF. Insurance company reimburses 100% of claims (Up to $1000 per service a year, as well as individual family coverage).
• Full Dental coverage, including major dental and orthodontics.
• 4% RRSP matching before tax deductions, 100% vested on day 1.
• Paid week off during Winter Holidays.
• 20 paid vacation days and 5 paid sick days.
• Free virtual health and mental wellbeing sessions included in the plan for members and their dependents.
• Personal development opportunities and ability to work in a global environment.
• Work in a creative team with people full of passion for what they do.