Job Posting Title:
Lighting Artist / Technical Director - Expression of Interest - ILM San FranciscoReq ID:
10152348Job Description:
This posting is an opportunity to submit your resume for future consideration; this is not a role that is open at this time. We anticipate this role may be open in the future, but we are not actively hiring for the position. If you would like to be considered for this potential role, please submit your resume. If the role becomes available, you may receive an email or call from a recruiter.
ILM’s Interactive team advances the studio’s legacy of innovation by developing original immersive experiences across virtual reality, augmented reality and location-based platforms. Known for blending best-in-class visuals, sound and narrative, the team has delivered award-winning projects such as What If…? – An Immersive Story, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series and the Oscar-winning CARNE y ARENA. Our work continues to push the boundaries of immersive entertainment and redefine how audiences engage with story.
We are seeking a Lighting Artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, and passion for great storytelling that defines ILM.
The Lighting Artist is responsible for bringing the best out of our environments and to combine artistic talent and technical ability. You would be working closely with the Department Supervisor of Lighting and development/production teams on the design and implementation of lighting setups and lighting pipelines.
Work with Art Directors, Lighting Leads and Concept Artwork to design lighting setups for environments, characters and interactive game assets.
Have a deep understanding of lightmap baking, dynamic lighting tools, image based specular lighting, indirect light probes, post-process volumes and real-time rendering
Work with environment, character and VFX artists in the lighting design to achieve the desired targets for aesthetics and performance through material shader and geometry work
Partner with level designers to animate via level blueprint or sequencer dynamic lighting or transitions
Actively participate in improving workflows, optimizations and best practices
Identify, triage, and fix bugs as required working with engineering and relevant departments
Take final project to a high degree of polish and optimization
5+ years experience as a Lighting TD/Artist in AAA game development or animation/vfx/film
Strong aesthetic sense for lighting and color theory
Strong technical knowledge of current real time lighting tool sets including atmospheric effects, post processing, color grading and HDR IBL workflows
Able to effectively take direction and know what looks good and why
Experience with Unreal/Unity or equivalent game engine including dynamic and baked lighting workflows, physically-based rendering, and basic level blueprint scripting
Shaders: in-depth knowledge of real-time shader implementations, limitations of shaders in VR, strong knowledge of PBR pipelines, and subsurface shaders
Materials: experienced in the development, authoring & organization of efficient materials via the UE4 material editor
Fluency in working in Windows, JIRA, Perforce or equivalent OS, workload and data management tools
Excellent communication, organization and problem-solving skills and self-motivated
Bonus points for:
Strong traditional art, photography or film studies background
Proficient with profiling tools to examine & diagnosis performance issues related to lighting
Experience with one or more of the following: Maya, Unity, Substance Designer / Painter, Zbrush or Mudbox, Houdini, Mari, 3D StudioMax, Photoshop, Nuke
Interest and capacity to work with proprietary toolsets
* A portfolio / reel submission - including a detailed breakdown of your work in each section - is required with all applications.
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The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $103,812 to $132,930 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.Job Posting Segment:
ILM San FranciscoJob Posting Primary Business:
ILM San FranciscoPrimary Job Posting Category:
Lighting Entertainment - StudiosEmployment Type:
Full timePrimary City, State, Region, Postal Code:
San Francisco, CA, USAAlternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:
Date Posted:
2026-05-26