The Lead Lighting Artist at Arctic 7 is responsible for leading the Lighting Art Team in the development of AAA quality lighting for environment, cutscenes and other project needs in accordance with the overall vision of the game. The Lead Lighting Artist must have a great artistic vision, good technical knowledge of the subject and be creative in order to be involved in all processes related to the creation and quality of the all lighting related content at all stages of production. 

Having this role, you will: 

• Regularly interact with Art Director to understand the desired look in relation to lighting for the production.  
• Follow the project guidelines and respect the artistic, technical and gameplay constraints.  
• Work with Producer to organize and estimate tasks for Lighting Team.  
• Advise, review and provide feedback and guidance to internal and external development on the technical and artistic side of the lighting tasks.  
• Manage the Lighting Team backlogs, bugs, and risks in an effective manner to ensure the smooth running of the department throughout the project.  
• Guide Lighting Artists’ overall professional development, providing performance feedback, mentoring, assisting with resolving performance issues, and maintaining positive morale amongst the crew.  
• Collaborate with other disciplines teams (Level Art, Technical Art, VFX, Animators, Level Designers, etc.) to deliver quality light across the project needs.  
• Coordinate with the Technical Art team to develop necessary solutions for best production speed and quality.  
• Deconstruct lighting and textures in a physically based renderer to establish appropriate color correct values.  
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of documentation, including naming, folder structures & terminology for lighting production. 
• Create/edit light to provide reference quality examples (level lighting, cutscenes, assets, etc.).  
• Create prototypes.  
• Participate in reviewing and interviewing potential candidates.  
• Work with the Outsource Producer to organize and estimate tasks for Outsourcers Lighting Artists:   
• Assemble benchmark internal asset packs and documentation.  
• Control quality and provide clear and regular feedback.  

We expect:  

• Strong Portfolio with examples of lighting setup in different artistic styles.  
• Extensive experience in Lighting production within a Leadership position:   
• First option: At least 3 years of experience acquired in the video game industry or the CGI, or in a VFX film industry.  
• Second option: Participation in the production of at least one successful/AAA project on PC and/or consoles.  
• Excellent knowledge of lighting tools and pipelines in Unreal Engine 4/5.  
• Excellent knowledge of creating and directing level lighting, color theory and post FX in real time rendering.  
• Expert knowledge of real time rendering and post FX.  
• Experience with a full project cycle, working within technical budgets and experience of optimization and bug fixing with a focus on in-game lighting. 
• Being self-driven to complete assigned tasks in a timely manner while maintaining a high level of quality.  
• Ability to define and meet a schedule.  
• Experience in close work with other departments while creating and implementing lighting.  
• Strong understanding of physical shaders and their interaction with lighting and post FX.  
• Good English skills, both writing and speaking.  

Nice to have, but not required: 

• A passion for playing and developing exceptional games. 
• Traditional 2D skills for concept art and paint overs. 
• Exceptional visual and technical understanding of 3D environment creation. 
• Scripting experience in MaxScript Python or MEL. 
• Blueprint experience in Unreal Engine 4/5. 

Working mode (optional):

• Remote: working from home, from any Europe location that is within 3 hours of the UTC +1 time zone.
• Office: working primarily from Podgorica, Montenegro [company provides relocation support].