Lead VFX Artist

2K Czech; Brighton; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading gaming studio in Brighton seeks a skilled Lead VFX Artist to define VFX standards and collaborate across teams. This role requires at least 7 years of VFX experience, expert knowledge of Unreal Engine 5, and proven leadership abilities. The successful candidate will work closely with internal and external partners to deliver visually stunning effects, ensuring optimal production pipelines for AAA games. Competitive compensation and a supportive work environment await aspiring candidates.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7+ years of VFX experience in the games industry.
• Expert-level proficiency in Unreal Engine 5 and Niagara.
• Solid understanding of real-time rendering and particle systems.

Responsibilities

• Push the visual fidelity of VFX using UE5's latest features.
• Drive innovation in real-time effects and cinematic presentation.
• Manage and mentor a team of VFX artists.

Skills

VFX experience

Unreal Engine 5 proficiency

Leadership skills

Cross-discipline collaboration

Tools

Houdini

EmberGen

Job description

Hangar 13 is an internal 2K development studio that crafts unforgettable AAA gaming experiences across all major platforms. With studios in Brighton (UK), Brno, and Prague (CZ), we work as one team to bring to life narrative-rich games that keep players immersed.

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled Lead VFX Artist with deep expertise in Unreal Engine 5. You will define the artistic and technical standards for VFX, guide a team of artists, and collaborate closely with design, cinematic, and engineering departments to deliver effects that are visually spectacular, performant, and seamlessly integrated into gameplay.

This is a leadership role at the intersection of creativity and technology, requiring strong direction, hands‑on execution, and mastery of UE5’s Niagara, Lumen, Nanite, and material systems.

In addition to leading internal team members, you will also oversee and collaborate with external co‑development partners, ensuring their work aligns with our creative vision, technical standards, and production goals.

Please note we do require someone to be based from one of our studios at least 3 days a week.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Push the visual fidelity of VFX using UE5’s latest features (Niagara, Lumen, Nanite) while balancing performance requirements.
• Drive innovation in real‑time effects, cinematic presentation, and player feedback.
• Collaborate with technical artists and engineers to expand UE5’s VFX toolset and pipeline for AAA production.
• Set and maintain performance budgets for VFX across platforms (PC, console, next‑gen hardware).
• Manage and mentor a team of VFX artists, providing clear direction, feedback, and professional development.
• Define workflows and pipelines for UE5 VFX production, ensuring efficiency and scalability across large teams.
• Partner with design teams to ensure VFX enhance gameplay readability, feedback, and immersion.
  Work with cinematics, animation, and lighting teams to integrate VFX into cutscenes and storytelling sequences.
• Act as the primary Unreal Engine VFX expert, supporting cross‑team problem solving and technical guidance.

Essential Skills, Attributes and Experience

• Minimum 7+ years of VFX experience in the games industry, including at least 2 shipped AAA titles.
• Expert‑level proficiency in Unreal Engine 5, including Niagara, materials, shaders, Lumen, and optimization workflows.
• Solid understanding of real‑time rendering, particle systems, physics, and performance constraints.
• Proven leadership experience managing and mentoring a VFX team.
• Excellent cross‑discipline collaboration, communication, and problem‑solving skills.

Highly Desirable

• Experience with procedural tools (Houdini, EmberGen) integrated into UE5 pipelines.
• Familiarity with cinematic or pre‑rendered VFX via Unreal Sequencer.
• Experience managing outsourcing or external vendors.
• Understanding of multiplayer or networked gameplay VFX challenges.
• Passion for staying at the forefront of real‑time VFX and Unreal Engine innovation.

Hangar 13 prides itself on the diversity of its team members, partners, and communities. For this reason, we remain committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all aspects of the employment relationship, from recruitment and hiring through compensation, benefits, discipline and termination.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are also committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation(s) to participate in the job application and/or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need to request reasonable accommodation.

SECURITY NOTICE - We have recently been made aware of increasing occurrences of bad actors posing as company HR personnel to gain information from "potential candidates", in the form of job interviews and offers. These scams can be quite sophisticated and appear legitimate.

Please know that Hangar 13 and 2K never use instant messaging apps to contact prospective employees or to conduct interviews.