Senior UE5 Lighting Artist

Job Overview We are seeking an experienced Senior UE5 Lighting Artist to join our team and contribute to international AAA open-world game projects. In this role, you will be responsible for the overall lighting design, atmosphere crafting, and visual quality enhancement of massive open-world environments. You will leverage high-quality real-time lighting solutions to build immersive gaming experiences. This position requires a strong balance of artistic expression and technical optimization capabilities—ensuring top-tier visual fidelity while meeting the rigorous performance standards of an open-world project. Key Responsibilities Lighting Design & Production • Design and implement comprehensive lighting schemes for open-world environments. • Formulate lighting representations for day/night cycles and dynamic weather systems in alignment with the project's art style. • Handle interior and exterior scene lighting setup and atmosphere crafting. • Enhance visual depth, spatial awareness, and narrative expression within game scenes. • Continuously iterate and optimize visual quality based on feedback from the Art Director. UE5 Real-Time Lighting Production • Proficiently utilize the UE5 lighting ecosystem, including: • Lumen Global Illumination • Virtual Shadow Maps (VSM) • Volumetric Fog • Sky Atmosphere • Exponential Height Fog • Post Process Volumes • Reflection Systems • HDR Pipeline • Take ownership of: Lighting Layout, Color Management, Exposure Control, Atmosphere Design, Weather Expression, and Time-of-Day Cycle Representation. Open-World Project Duties • Participate in lighting planning for large-scale open-world maps. • Responsible for unifying the lighting style while creating distinct visual identities across multiple biomes. • Address and resolve lighting management challenges under the World Partition framework. • Optimize lighting performance during level streaming states. • Ensure visual consistency across various times of day and weather conditions. • Support exploration experiences and visual guidance through strategic lighting design. Technical Optimization • Conduct performance profiling and optimization for scene lighting. • Collaborate with Technical Artists to establish lighting budgets and specifications. • Optimize the following components to meet target performance milestones without sacrificing visual fidelity: • Dynamic Lighting • Shadow Cost • Reflection Cost • Volumetric Effects • Post Process Effects Requirements Mandatory Qualifications • 5+ years of professional experience in the game industry. • Contributed to at least one shipped AA or AAA project. • Direct development experience in open-world projects. • Proficient in Unreal Engine 5. • Outstanding lighting aesthetics, artistic sensibilities, and color control capabilities. • Familiar with cinematic photography language and camera lens expressions. • Exceptional ability to shape environment atmosphere and mood. • Capable of independently taking ownership of large-scale regional lighting production. Technical Competencies Candidates must possess practical, project-proven experience in one or more of the following core technical areas: • Core UE5 Technologies: Production experience with Lumen, Nanite, Virtual Shadow Maps, World Partition, Data Layers, and Open-World Streaming. • Performance Optimization: Experience in GPU performance profiling, Render Pass analysis, and utilizing tools like Unreal Insights and ProfileGPU. Console platform optimization experience is highly valued. • Large Map Experience: Experience with open-world day/night cycles, dynamic weather lighting systems, macro-level map lighting planning, and biome-specific lighting design. Preferred Qualifications (Pluses) Priority will be given to candidates with experience in: • Houdini pipeline integration. • A Technical Artist background. • Blueprint development capabilities. • Shader creation experience. • Background in photography, cinematography, or film/TV lighting. • HDR project experience. • Console platform development experience. • Multiplayer open-world project experience. • International AAA project development experience. Portfolio Requirements Candidates must provide one or more of the following: • An up-to-date UE5 lighting portfolio. • Scene breakdown cases demonstrating "Before / After" comparisons. • Open-world project case studies. • Day/night cycle or dynamic weather system demonstrations. • Video showreels or cinematic flythroughs. • Priority given to portfolios showcasing: Lumen applications, Open-World scales, AAA-quality projects, Lighting Breakdowns, or Optimization workflows. Preferred Project Experience Experience in the following game genres is highly preferred: • Open-World RPGs • Open-World Action games • Survival Crafting games • MMO Open-World projects • Console AAA projects Reference Titles: Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon series, Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin's Creed series, Red Dead Redemption series, Black Myth: Wukong. What We Are Looking For • Extreme pursuit of excellence in lighting and visual expression. • Passion for AAA game development. • Constant tracking and learning of cutting-edge UE5 rendering technologies. • Strong communication skills and a collaborative team spirit. • Ability to work efficiently and adaptively within an internationalized project environment. Benefits Base salary, Bonus, Health insurance, EAP Program, Relocation support.