Technical Artist

Technical Artist 

At Ember Lab, our goal is to create powerful, transformative experiences that impact people for a lifetime. Having released our debut game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, in 2021 this journey is just beginning. We’re looking for collaborative team members who share our passion for storytelling and are eager to help us shape the future of Ember Lab.

As a Technical Artist, you have a strong technical understanding that can be used to achieve a desired artistic style.You will work across teams to discover and improve the overall aesthetic and efficiency of the game.

Description 

• Develop visually stunning materials for characters, effects, and environments. 
• Create efficient and user-friendly materials and material functions that can be used by other artists. 
• Communicate and collaborate with artists and engineers to develop and refine a wide variety of visual effects.
• Ensure smooth performance and high-quality visuals on console hardware by optimizing materials and game assets.
• Troubleshoot and resolve technical challenges related to art integration, performance, and visual consistency.
• Enhance visual fidelity and overall aesthetic appeal by actively researching, evaluating, and integrating new techniques and technologies into the development pipeline.

Requirements 

• 5+ years of experience as a technical artist.
• Expert working knowledge of UE5.
• Experience with utilizing render targets for landscape, wind, water, and foliage simulations.
• Familiarity with Unreal’s Niagara VFX system.

• Proficiency in material look development and strong understanding of Unreal Engine's material graph.
• Ability to create organized and readable material graphs that are flexible enough to support artist needs over the course of the project.
• Experience creating complex shaders that can evolve over the course of game development.
• Expert knowledge of profiling GPU, CPU, and memory performance in Unreal. 
• Experience creating shaders for water, post-process, and translucent materials.

Nice to Have 

• Experience shipping a game from beginning to end.
• Experience writing shaders in HLSL.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate with artists and engineers.
• Familiarity with DCC tools such as Maya, Substance, Zbrush, and Houdini.
• Familiarity with Niagara Grid 2D.
• Familiarity with Runtime Virtual Textures.
• Experience with Niagara Fluids and Sparse Volume Textures. 

Location

• Onsite preferred open to hybrid or remote work.

To apply: 

• Please include a portfolio. 

The standard annual base salary range for this role in the U.S. is $130,000 - $180,000 USD. Actual pay will vary depending on experience, qualifications, performance and location. The base salary range for locations outside of the U.S. will be adjusted according to location.