Lead by example in designing, authoring, and implementing complex, high-performance, and visually stunning real-time shaders and materials within a game engine such as Unreal Engine.
Drive the look development and final aesthetic quality for key characters, props, and environments, ensuring consistency with the Art Director’s vision.
Profile and optimize existing and new shaders to meet demanding performance and memory budgets across all target platforms without compromising visual fidelity.
Act as a key resource on Physically Based Rendering (PBR) principles, material calibration, and texture authoring best practices.
Identify bottlenecks in the art production pipeline related to materials, texturing, and shading, and proactively develop robust solutions.
Write and maintain tools/scripts to automate material assignment, streamline shader iteration, and improve artist workflows.
Collaborate directly with Graphics Engineers to research and integrate new rendering features and techniques into the production pipeline.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in game development, film, AR/VR, immersive entertainment, or related fields.
Expert-level proficiency in a node-based shader development environment (e.g., Unreal Engine's Material Editor, Unity's Shader Graph, Substance Designer).
Deep understanding of real-time rendering pipelines and modern rendering techniques (Deferred, Forward+, Ray Tracing).
Strong foundation in Computer Graphics theory, especially Physically Based Rendering (PBR) principles, lighting, and color theory.
Proficiency in at least one shader language (HLSL/GLSL/Cg) is highly desirable for custom shader implementation.
Experience with Python, Mel, or C# for tool development and pipeline scripting.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to articulate complex technical ideas to both artists and engineers.
Bonus points for: Experience with Houdini for procedural asset generation or VFX integration.

Benefits

A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package.
Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

shader developmentreal-time renderingPhysically Based Rendering (PBR)lighting theorycolor theoryshader language (HLSL)shader language (GLSL)shader language (Cg)PythonC#

Soft Skills

communication skillsinterpersonal skillsproblem-solvingcollaborationarticulation of technical ideas