Senior Tech/VFX Artist - 6 month contract

Panic Stations; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 65,000 - 101,000; Full time

Job summary

Panic Stations is seeking a Senior Tech/VFX Artist for a 6-month remote contract in the UK. You will own VFX, build tools, and contribute to art production across projects, using Unity and Blender. The role emphasizes rapid autonomous work in a collaborative team.

Ideal candidates have senior experience in VFX, technical art, and in-engine asset integration, with a focus on speed, efficiency, and quality. Remote within the UK is supported.

Qualifications

• Senior level experience in VFX and technical art.
• Proven ability to implement assets in-engine and optimize pipelines.
• Experience with Unity and Blender, plus C# scripting or visual scripting.

Responsibilities

• Own VFX pipeline and craft visuals for a combat-focused game.
• Develop tools and automation to speed up art production.
• Collaborate across art, design and engineering to solve cross-disciplinary problems.
• Implement assets in engine and optimize performance.

Skills

VFX

Tech Art

Unity

Blender

C# scripting

Shader creation

Automation tools

Tools

Unity Editor

Job description

We’re a games studio focused on building games that bring people together.

We believe that games that deliver the most fun-per-minute have the highest chance of success. We are a start-up and not a big company, which means we’re a bit scrappy but we’re resourceful, highly collaborative and focused on outcomes and shipping builds over process and meetings.

We aim to hire multi-talented individuals who can operate autonomously and at speed, with every role at the studio being hands-on working directly on our games.

Role Overview

We’re looking to bring on a Senior Tech/VFX Artist for a 6 month contract, with potential to extend further depending on how things go.

We’re looking for a Senior Technical Artist that has strong experience creating VFX and development tools to contribute to art production on an exciting unannounced co-op combat game, and support Tech Art on multiple projects across the studio.

Key Responsibilities

1 - Own VFX and Technical Art

You’ll mainly be making the VFX for the game, as well as identifying and creating solutions and tools where needed to speed up the art development pipeline.

Success looks like:

• Owning the VFX pipeline and crafting fun, playful and physical visuals for a combat heavy game
• Using VFX to clearly communicate gameplay, impacts and player feedback
• Grasping the project art style and technical requirements and adapting quickly
• Identifying repetitive or inefficient workflows and building lightweight tools, automation and procedural solutions to speed up content production

2 - Be a Force Multiplier, Not Just an Asset Maker

There’s more to it than just creating assets, it’s about being an invaluable team member.

Success looks like:

• Communicating and collaborating across disciplines, problem-solving the gaps between art, design and engineering
• Joining playtests and contributing to the game experience beyond art
• Identifying risks and constraints early and redirecting effort when needed
• Being pro-active and moving the project forward, even if you’re waiting for feedback or currently blocked, you know how to identify meaningful work to keep momentum

3 - Implement Assets in Engine

You’re not just handing off art assets, you’re implementing them in-engine.

Success looks like:

• Importing, setting up and hooking up assets
• Correctly handling setup for materials, prefabs, folders and naming etc
• Fixing materials, collision and general art bugs in engine
• Spotting inefficiencies and offering better solutions
• Keeping assets and scenes well optimized without sacrificing the game’s vision

• Senior experience level. Comfortable working autonomously with high level direction, championing your area of responsibility.
• Comfortable supporting multiple projects, overseeing the studio’s Tech Art Pipeline and utilising emerging technologies.
• Broad artistic & technical skillset: VFX creation and supporting 2D / 3D assets, tool creation and automation, understanding of artistic game development pipelines.
• Confident in Unity; create and hook up particle systems in engine, use scripting / visual scripting to bridge the gap between art and code, diagnose and fix VFX issues.
• Comfortable in Blender (preferred) or able to transition quickly
• Happy to prioritize speed & efficiency
• Project first mindset: Our games look good but we’re not trying to win art awards or build stunning portfolio pieces. The experience is king.
• General understanding of supporting optimization and performance for online multiplayer titles (from an art POV)
• Bonus skills: Shader creation, Rigging, Animation Implementation / Set Up, C# Scripting

Please note: This is a 6 month contract, remote-working position, open to anyone within the UK.