Senior Visual Effects Artist

The Senior VFX Artist is a proven expert in crafting high-quality, photorealistic visual effects for gameplay, environments, and cinematics. They design, implement, and optimize real-time effects, VFX textures, and shaders while collaborating across departments to ensure seamless integration into the game engine. Skilled in Houdini, Embergen, and other VFX tools, they orchestrate complex, layered effects, refine internal workflows, and guide external development partners. With a keen eye for artistic direction and technical performance, they push visual fidelity while maintaining efficiency.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:

• Creates, designs, and implements real-time effects using both static and animating 2D/3D elements.
• Implement VFX across all areas of the game, including environmental and gameplay VFX, and cinematics.
• Creates VFX textures (albedo, normal, specular, roughness, ambient occlusion, height, and emissive maps).
• Creates VFX shaders with node-based shader networks.
• Creates geometry and UV sets.
• Optimizes VFX for framerate and memory.
• Collaborates with other departments to ensure that VFX are implemented appropriately in the game engine.
• Works with Art Director to help create and maintain VFX art direction for game.
• Understands and adds to the overall art style of game.
• Orchestrates complex VFX events involving layering and timing of different VFX to create a believable scene.
• Evaluates and experiments with techniques and art programs to improve efficiency, workflow, or visuals in game.
• Creates VFX assets such as simulated models or textures for gameplay using DCC applications such as Houdini, Maya, or other equivalent software.
• Prototypes VFX concepts for gameplay and engine.
• Helps guide further development of internal effects editing tools and pipeline workflows.
• Work with, train, and guide external development partners.
• Works under time constraints in a rapid production environment.
• Works both autonomously with little direction, or in a group setting as a proactive contributor in leading and driving game-dev initiatives with others.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This job has no supervisory responsibilities, but may mentor tutor, and aid more junior artists to improve workflow, efficiency, aesthetics, and pipeline.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.