Senior Lighting Artist (Freelance)

FOLKS; Montreal (administrative region); Remote; CAD 70,000 - 110,000; Part time

Job summary

Side, a global game development and services provider, is seeking a Senior Level Artist to own spaces from blockout to polish, blending gameplay layout with world-building in Unreal Engine.

The role is a remote freelance contract for 3–6 months, up to 40 hours per week, with overlap to the CEST team hours. You will optimize streaming, HLODs, lighting, and asset placement, working cross-functionally to support gameplay and visual goals.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in level design, level art, or world building.
• Strong portfolio showing in-engine environments from a player's perspective.
• Deep Unreal Engine experience with ownership of gameplay layout and visual execution.

Responsibilities

• Own spaces from blockout through final polish, balancing gameplay layout with visual composition.
• Build and polish environments in Unreal Engine with attention to lighting and in-engine presentation.
• Collaborate with design, art, and engineering teams to ensure spaces support gameplay and visuals.

Skills

Level design

Unreal Engine

World building

Blueprints

Houdini

Unreal PCG

Performance optimization

Python scripting

Tools

Unreal Blueprints

Houdini

Gaea/World Machine

Job description

At Side, we partner with some of the world's leading developers and publishers to solve complex production challenges and help bring exceptional games to life. From concept through live operations, our co-development teams work as trusted extensions of our clients' studios, contributing expertise across design, engineering, art, audio, QA, and production.

We're looking for a Senior Level Artist to own game spaces from blockout through final polish, combining gameplay layout, world building, and visual composition. You'll work with a library of pre-generated assets to create, refine, and integrate spaces that are both visually compelling and effective to play.

This is a remote freelance contract for approximately 3–6 months, with up to 40 hours per week of support needed. Candidates must be available to overlap with the CEST team's working hours; location is otherwise flexible.

Requirements

What you'll be doing:

Level & World Building

• Own spaces from blockout through final polish, balancing gameplay layout with visual composition, staging, lighting, and world-building.
• Create, refine, and integrate pre-generated assets into cohesive, playable game environments.
• Make intentional decisions about player flow, composition, sightlines, and navigation to support the gameplay experience.

Unreal Engine & Performance

• Build and polish environments in Unreal Engine with a strong understanding of composition, lighting, and in-engine presentation.
• Manage streaming, HLODs, draw calls, frame budgets, and memory budgets, personally optimizing spaces to meet performance targets.
• Use Unreal PCG and Houdini to support efficient world-building and asset placement workflows.

Gameplay Integration

• Implement level features, triggers, and interactives using Unreal Blueprints.
• Collaborate with design, art, and engineering teams to ensure spaces support both gameplay and visual goals.
• Take ownership of spaces across multiple stages of development, from initial blockout through a shipped, cancelled, or personal project.

What we're looking for:

• 5+ years of experience in level design, level art, or world building.
• A portfolio demonstrating composition, staging, lighting, and playable spaces built in-engine; portfolios should show environments from a player's perspective rather than primarily props or asset reels.
• Deep experience building worlds and spaces in Unreal Engine, with the ability to own both gameplay layout and visual execution.
• Strong gameplay layout literacy, including the ability to make and articulate intentional decisions around player flow, navigation, sightlines, and spatial composition.
• Experience owning a space through multiple stages of a development pipeline, including shipped, cancelled, or personal projects.
• Proven experience managing and optimizing streaming, HLODs, draw calls, frame budgets, and memory budgets.
• Working knowledge of Unreal Blueprints for implementing level features, triggers, and interactives.
• Experience with Unreal PCG and Houdini.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of a space from blockout through final polish.

Nice to have:

• Experience with material and shader authoring.
• Experience with terrain tools such as Gaea, World Machine, or equivalent.
• Background in architecture, urban planning, or production design.
• Experience working on open-world or large-scale streaming worlds.
• Experience authoring tools using Python or Blueprints.
• Dynamic, multicultural and fun environment.
• You will be working for the world's leading provider of game services.
• We empower our people and offer regular progression opportunities to ensure our employees flourish.

About Side

Side (formerly PTW) is a global video game development and services provider, offering technical and creative solutions to many of the largest developers and studios around the world. Founded in 2009 and drawing on 30+ years' experience from our parent company in Japan, Side has since grown to become a global force with 20 studios in 14 countries across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.

Our industry-leading services include game development, art production, audio production, quality assurance, localization, localization QA, player support, community management, and datasets.

Experience our side of life. For more information, visit www.side.inc