Lead 3D Shader & Materials Artist — Hybrid

Elevation Recruitment Group; Warrington; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 40,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid onsite work 3 days

Annual bonus scheme

Growth and training

Enhanced leave and volunteering day

Discounts at major brands

Wellbeing and health benefits

Pension and Sharesave

Life Assurance & Sick Pay

Job summary

Elevation Recruitment Group seeks a skilled 3D Shader and Materials Artist in Warrington to own a vast digital upholstery library. The role focuses on V-Ray rendering, shader networks, and bring high-end fabrics to life across CGI, web, and AR pipelines.

You will optimize materials for real-time platforms, bake shaders into lightweight formats (glTF/USDZ), and collaborate with commercial teams to ensure color accuracy against physical samples.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years specialised in technical art, shading, or PBR material authoring, with a portfolio centred on high-end product visualisation or VFX.
• Advanced technical proficiency in V-Ray (3ds Max or Maya). Comprehensive understanding of light transport, sampling math, and the ability to deconstruct and solve complex shading bottlenecks.
• Extensive experience managing complex scenes for network rendering via Backburner, with a focus on memory management and UNC pathing consistency.
• Proven experience using Adobe Substance 3D Designer and Substance 3D Painter to create and develop high-quality, realistic materials.
• Technical fluency within core DCC applications (3ds Max or Maya).
• A meticulous eye for detail, textile physics, scale, and the subtle nuances of colour and light interaction.
• Must be able to showcase photo realistic digital upholstery, demonstrating expert control over weave patterns, micro-surface qualities, and final high-fidelity V-Ray renders.

Responsibilities

• Creating realistic PBR materials for furniture fabrics including linens, bouclés, velvets, leathers and synthetics.
• Building and refining V-Ray materials to accurately capture fabric textures and properties.
• Optimising materials for web, real-time 3D and AR platforms.
• Ensuring materials look consistent across CGI, websites and AR experiences.
• Using Substance 3D Designer to create and efficiently produce fabric variations.
• Supporting render farm workflows, troubleshooting material and texture issues.
• Working with commercial teams to colour-match digital fabrics against physical samples and maintain accuracy across platforms.

Skills

3D shading

PBR materials

V-Ray

Substance Designer

Substance Painter

3ds Max

Maya

Backburner

Tools

V-Ray

Backburner

Substance 3D Designer

Substance 3D Painter

3ds Max

Maya

Job description

Elevation Recruitment Group seeks a skilled 3D Shader and Materials Artist in Warrington to own a vast digital upholstery library. The role focuses on V-Ray rendering, shader networks, and bring high-end fabrics to life across CGI, web, and AR pipelines.

You will optimize materials for real-time platforms, bake shaders into lightweight formats (glTF/USDZ), and collaborate with commercial teams to ensure color accuracy against physical samples.