ILM USA hiring Lighting Artist, 2026

Festybay; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 104,000 - 133,000; Full time

Job summary

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is seeking a highly talented Lighting Artist to design, implement, and optimize real-time lighting for immersive environments and characters, balancing cinematic lighting with VR/interactive performance. You will work with the Lighting Department Supervisor and cross-discipline teams to deliver polished visuals.

The role requires 5+ years in AAA lighting or VFX, strong color theory, and shader/PBR knowledge.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of production experience as a Lighting Artist or Lighting TD within AAA game development, feature animation, or high-end visual effects (VFX).
• Strong aesthetic command over color theory, cinematic staging, shadow composition, and real-world atmospheric behavior.
• Hands-on production experience with Unreal Engine, Unity, or an equivalent modern real-time game engine, covering both dynamic and baked lighting pipelines.
• In-depth understanding of Physically Based Rendering (PBR) pipelines, real-time shader implementations, subsurface scattering shaders, and VR rendering limitations.
• Fluency working in Windows environments alongside workload and version control tools (e.g., JIRA, Perforce).

Responsibilities

• Scene Composition: collaborate with Art Directors and lighting leads to build cinematic lighting for environments, hero characters, and interactive assets.
• Real-Time Workflows: leverage lightmap baking, dynamic lighting tools, IBL, light probes, and post-process volumes.
• Dynamic Sequencing: partner with Level Designers to animate lighting and time-of-day changes using level blueprints or engine sequencer tools.
• Performance Synchronization: ensure shaders, textures, and geometry meet aesthetic targets and frame-rate benchmarks.

Skills

Unreal Engine

Unity

PBR Knowledge

Shader Writing

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

Maya

Perforce

JIRA

Job description

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is seeking a highly talented, technically proficient Lighting Artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative excellence, and passion for great storytelling that defines ILM.

In this role (Lighting Artist), you will combine your strong aesthetic eye with technical real-time rendering capabilities to bring out the absolute best in our immersive environments and characters. Working closely with the Department Supervisor of Lighting, Art Directors, and cross-discipline development teams, you will design, implement, and optimize real-time lighting setups and pipelines. The ideal candidate is an expert in balancing the cinematic beauty of a scene with the strict performance limitations of interactive, real-time engines and VR headsets.

Detail Specification

Job Title Lighting Artist (Interactive/Immersive)

Studio / Facility Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

Location San Francisco, California, United States

Hiring Range $103,812 – $132,930 USD / Year

Primary Tech Stack Unreal Engine / Unity, PBR Shaders, Maya

Core Platforms Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Immersive Cinema

About Industrial Light & Magic (ILM)

Founded in 1975 by George Lucas, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is the premier visual effects facility in the world, setting the gold standard for cinematic storytelling and digital innovation for over three decades.

ILM’s Interactive Team advances this legacy of innovation by developing original, award-winning immersive experiences across virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and location-based entertainment platforms.

Blending best-in-class visuals, state-of-the-art spatial audio, and cinematic narrative, our team has delivered groundbreaking, award-winning projects such as What If...? – An Immersive Story, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, and the Oscar-winning CARNE y ARENA. We continue to push the frontiers of real-time interactive technology and redefine how global audiences engage with stories.

1. Aesthetic Lighting Design & Implementation

• Scene Composition: Collaborate with Art Directors, Lighting Leads, and concept artwork to build mood-evoking, cinematic lighting setups for complex environments, hero characters, and interactive game assets.
• Real-Time Workflows: Leverage a deep understanding of lightmap baking, dynamic real-time lighting tools, image-based specular lighting (IBL), indirect light probes, and post-process volumes.
• Dynamic Sequencing: Partner with Level Designers to animate dynamic lighting, time-of-day changes, or cinematic lighting transitions using level blueprints or engine sequencer tools.

2. Cross-Department Optimization & Polishing

• Performance Synchronization: Work alongside environment, character, and VFX artists to ensure material shaders, textures, and geometry are fully optimized to meet both aesthetic targets and strict frame-rate benchmarks.
• Material Authoring: Develop, organize, and maintain clean, efficient, and physically-based materials using real-time node editors (e.g., Unreal Engine material editor).
• Bug Triage & Polish: Proactively identify, track, and fix rendering or lighting bugs inside an active production pipeline, bringing the final interactive project to an elite level of polish and optimization.

Requirements & QualificationsCore Craft Profile

• Professional Footprint: 5+ years of production experience as a Lighting Artist or Lighting Technical Director (TD) within AAA game development, feature animation, or high-end visual effects (VFX).
• Artistic Foundations: Strong aesthetic command over color theory, cinematic staging, shadow composition, and real-world atmospheric behavior.
• Engine Proficiency: Hands-on production experience with Unreal Engine, Unity, or an equivalent modern real-time game engine, covering both dynamic and baked lighting pipelines.
• Shader & PBR Knowledge: In-depth understanding of Physically Based Rendering (PBR) pipelines, real-time shader implementations, subsurface scattering shaders, and the specific rendering limitations inherent to VR platforms.
• Production Ecosystem: Fluency working in Windows environments alongside industry-standard workload and version control management tools (e.g., JIRA, Perforce).

Bonus Points For:

• A strong background in traditional fine arts, professional photography, or cinematic film studies.
• Proficiency using GPU/CPU profiling tools to diagnose and resolve performance bottlenecks related to lighting and rendering.
• Familiarity with foundational 3D/VFX content creation applications: Maya, Substance Designer/Painter, Houdini, ZBrush, Mari, 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, or Nuke.

Compensation, Benefits & Work Structure

San Francisco Base Hiring Range: $103,812 to $132,930 USD per year

Note: Actual base pay offered is determined by internal equity, geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and overall production experience.

Total Rewards Package: In addition to base pay, a bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be included. Employees have access to a full range of medical, dental, vision, and financial benefits provided by The Walt Disney Company.