Lead Lighting Artist

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead Lighting Artist based in Canada.

Join a talented AAA game development team where lighting plays a central role in shaping atmosphere, storytelling, and player immersion. As Lead Lighting Artist, you will guide a high-performing team while defining lighting standards, workflows, and best practices. You’ll collaborate across art, design, engineering, animation, audio, production, and technology teams to bring ambitious creative concepts to life. The role combines artistic leadership with hands-on expertise in real-time rendering and modern lighting technologies. You’ll help evolve efficient, optimized lighting pipelines while maintaining a high visual bar across environments and cinematics. Working with Unreal Engine 5, Lumen, and Sequencer, you’ll contribute to a visually rich and technically demanding AAA experience. This is an opportunity to influence both the creative direction and the professional growth of an experienced team in a collaborative, innovative environment.

Accountabilities:: Lead and mentor a team of lighting artists, providing clear expectations, constructive feedback, coaching, and career development support.

Establish and maintain lighting standards, best practices, workflows, and pipelines that promote productivity, consistency, and artistic excellence.

Guide the team in creating dynamic, visually compelling lighting for real-time environments and in-game cinematics.

Partner with the Art Director and other discipline leads to understand, maintain, and execute the project's overall visual direction.

Develop and continuously improve efficient lighting pipelines, acting as a key point of contact for technical or workflow challenges and proactively removing roadblocks.

Collaborate with Core Technology teams to meet technical specifications, optimization targets, and real-time rendering requirements.

Work closely with Production and scheduling teams to establish realistic timelines, manage priorities, and monitor project progress.

Collaborate with other art disciplines to ensure cohesive, polished, and visually striking results across the game.

Research and introduce new lighting techniques, technologies, and workflows that can improve quality and production efficiency.

Monitor team and project performance, identify opportunities for optimization, and communicate progress and priorities to cross-functional stakeholders.

Participate constructively in iterative feedback cycles, incorporating new direction and constraints while maintaining a high standard of quality.

Foster a positive, inclusive, agile, and collaborative team environment that encourages innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Requirements:

7+ years of professional experience in real-time lighting and final rendering, including demonstrated experience as an Art Lead on at least one shipped AAA game.

Deep understanding of Physically Based Rendering (PBR), real-time lighting, runtime optimization, and lighting for in-game cinematics.

Strong hands-on expertise with Unreal Engine 5 , particularly Lumen Lighting and Sequencer .

Proven experience recruiting, developing, mentoring, and retaining high-performing artistic talent while effectively managing workload and team well-being.

Demonstrated ability to collaborate with Core Technology and Production teams to establish, optimize, and maintain real-time lighting pipelines within technical and performance constraints.

Strong artistic judgment and attention to detail, combined with a practical understanding of production requirements and technical limitations.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex ideas clearly and provide constructive feedback with empathy and professionalism.

Strong cross-disciplinary collaboration skills and the ability to build productive, trust-based relationships across different levels and functions.

Proactive, self-motivated, and comfortable taking ownership of initiatives in ambiguous or rapidly changing environments.

Ability to remain effective under pressure while managing shifting priorities and maintaining high standards of quality.

Strong listening skills, emotional intelligence, and the ability to understand different perspectives and navigate organizational complexity.

Openness to feedback and a demonstrated willingness to learn, adapt, and iterate quickly.

Strong organizational skills and the ability to independently drive work forward while maintaining accountability for quality and deadlines.

For candidates located in Quebec, professional proficiency in both French and English is required for collaboration with international teams and partners and for working with specialized technical documentation.

Eligibility to work in North America is required; relocation support is not specified for this position.

Benefits:

Opportunity to contribute to a high-profile AAA game project and help shape its visual identity and immersive player experience.

Remote-friendly working environment.

Opportunity to lead and mentor a talented team while influencing lighting practices and technical direction.

Collaborative environment spanning art, design, engineering, animation, audio, production, and technology disciplines.

Opportunities to research and adopt emerging real-time rendering and lighting technologies.

Exposure to advanced Unreal Engine 5 technologies, including Lumen and Sequencer.

Culture focused on creativity, continuous learning, ownership, collaboration, and high-quality work.

Supportive and inclusive workplace committed to equal opportunity.

Reasonable accommodations available for qualified candidates with disabilities throughout the recruitment and employment process.

How Jobgether works: We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team. We appreciate your interest and wish you the best!  Why Apply Through Jobgether?    Data Privacy Notice: By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Jobgether will process your personal data to evaluate your candidacy and share relevant information with the hiring employer. This processing is based on legitimate interest and pre-contractual measures under applicable data protection laws (including GDPR). You may exercise your rights (access, rectification, erasure, objection) at any time.     #LI-CL1