3D Technical Artist

Sas; Cary, Northern (NC, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, prescription, dental and vis

401k plan with company match

Paid holidays and generous vacation

Tuition assistance program

Parental leave and wellness breaks

Job summary

The 3D Technical Artist role at SAS blends art and engineering to build optimized, production-ready Unreal assets for digital twins and analytics. You will rig MetaHumans, optimize lighting, and transform CAD drawings into real-time environments, balancing visuals with performance.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in similar roles, strong UE5 expertise, and scripting ability to automate workflows. This hybrid US-based role allows remote work or Cary, NC-based collaboration with SAS teams.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as a 3D Technical Artist or similar role.
• Strong Unreal Engine 5 knowledge, MetaHuman and animation tooling.
• Proficient in real-time rendering and asset optimization.
• Experience with version control in a production pipeline.

Responsibilities

• Create/modify model assets for Unreal Engine real-time environments.
• Implement optimized lighting, post-process and camera effects.
• Rig MetaHuman characters for real-time apps using Control Rig/Sequencer.
• Identify and resolve visual perf bottlenecks with Unreal Insights.
• Turn 2D drawings (DXF/DWG/CAD) into accurate 3D spaces with engineering.
• Maintain asset organization, naming conventions and version control.
• Follow security policies to support secure software goals.
• Demonstrate curiosity, passion, authenticity and accountability.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5

MetaHuman Creator

Control Rig

Animation Blueprints

Maya

Blender

Real-time rendering

Python scripting

Education

Bachelor's degree in Game Art, Animation, Computer Graphics or related field

Tools

Perforce

Plastic SCM

Git

Job description

3D Technical Artist – Remote in the US or Hybrid in Cary, NC

We’re a leader in data and AI. Through our software and services, we inspire customers around the world to transform data into intelligence – and questions into answers.

If you’re looking for a dynamic, fulfilling career with flexibility and a world-class employee experience, you’ll find it here. We’re recognized around the world for our inclusive, meaningful culture and innovative technologies by organizations like Fast Company, Forbes,Newsweek and more.

About the job

The Games Analytics and Digital Twins team is looking for a 3D Technical Artist to build the environments, characters, models and effects behind our next generation of digital twins. Our team sits between art and engineering, producing optimized, production-ready assets that run in real-time simulation and generate synthetic data for analytics and machine learning.

This is a role for someone who cares equally about how something looks and how fast it runs. One week you may be rigging MetaHumans for a workforce simulation, the next turning a customer's CAD drawings into an accurate factory floor, then chasing down a frame-time regression in Unreal Insights. Few technical art roles let you watch your assets feed an analytics platform and shape decisions customers make about real facilities.

As a 3D Technical Artist, you will:

• Create and modify model assets for simulation environment creation in Unreal Engine, including setting up and troubleshooting basic and custom collision volumes.


• Implement optimized lighting, post-process and camera effects with a focus on balancing visual quality against real-time performance.


• Create, customize and rig MetaHuman characters for real-time applications in Unreal Engine 5, and implement facial and body animation using Control Rig, Sequencer or motion capture data.


• Identify, communicate and resolve visual performance bottlenecks and defects using Unreal Editor and Unreal Insights.


• Collaborate with the engineering team to transform 2D drawings (DXF, DWG, CAD) into accurate 3D spaces.


• Maintain efficient asset organization, naming conventions and version control standards across the content pipeline.


• Ensure all applicable security policies and processes are followed to support the organization's secure software development goals.


• Embrace curiosity, passion, authenticity and accountability. These are our values and influence everything we do.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Game Art, Animation, Computer Graphics or a related field.


• Minimum 5 years of professional experience as a 3D Technical Artist, Character Artist or in a similar role.


• Strong proficiency with Unreal Engine 5, particularly MetaHuman Creator, Control Rig and Animation Blueprints, plus Maya, Blender or a comparable package for modeling, rigging and animation.


• Solid understanding of real-time rendering, performance optimization and PBR material workflows, including character retargeting, facial animation and motion capture cleanup.


• Experience working in a version-controlled content pipeline (Perforce, Plastic SCM or Git).


• Equivalent combination of related education, training and experience may be considered in place of the above qualifications.

Additional competencies, knowledge and skills

• Collaborating – Working cooperatively with others to help a team or work group achieve its goals.


• Quality Orientation – Accomplishing tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how detailed; showing concern for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks; being watchful over a period of time.


• Technology Savvy – Leveraging practical knowledge of recent technology tools, solutions and trends to improve work results, solve work problems and take advantage of new business opportunities.


• Experience with Python or Blueprint scripting to automate asset workflows.


• Knowledge of Niagara, subsurface scattering materials, or Groom systems for hair.


• Background in synthetic data generation, computer vision or simulation environments.


• Understanding of technical art pipelines for producing AI and machine learning training datasets.

World-class benefits

Highlights include...

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental and vision plans.


• Medical plan options include:
  
  
  
  • PPO with low annual deductible and copays.
  
  
  • HDHP combined with a health savings account with a contribution from SAS (no access to on-site health care center).
  
  
  
  


• Onsite Health Care Center (HQ) that’s free to employees and family members enrolled in the PPO plan. There's a pharmacy too! Not local to HQ? The pharmacy will ship prescriptions for no additional charge!


• An industry-leading 401k plan.


• Tuition Assistance Program and programs and resources to support your development


• Generous time away including vacation time, a variety of paid holidays, and our much-loved U.S. Winter Wellness Break between December 25 and January 1.


• Volunteer Time Off, parental leave and unlimited paid sick days.


• Generous childcare benefits for all full-time employees.

You are welcome here.

At SAS, it’s not about fitting into our culture – it’s about adding to it. We believe our people make the difference. Our inclusive workforce brings together unique talents and inspires teams to create amazing software that reflects the diversity of our users and customers.

Additional Information:

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status. SAS is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law. Read more: Know Your Rights.

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received. SAS employees performing certain job functions may require access to technology or software subject to export or import regulations. To comply with these regulations, SAS may obtain nationality or citizenship information from applicants for employment. SAS collects this information solely for trade law compliance purposes and does not use it to discriminate unfairly in the hiring process.

SAS only sends emails from verified “sas.com” email addresses and never asks for sensitive, personal information or money. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of any type of communication from, or on behalf of SAS, please contact [e-mail].

Let's stay in touch! Join our Talent Community to stay up to date on company news, job updates and more.

#SAS