Lead VFX Artist: Shape Epic Game Visuals & Story

Ember Lab; Orange (CA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Ember Lab is seeking a Lead VFX Artist to guide our visual effects and set both the technical and creative direction for our projects. You will mentor teammates and collaborate with art, design, and technical teams to realize immersive storytelling through vibrant visuals.

You will own the VFX pipeline from concept to implementation, optimize assets for performance, and help define the game's visual identity across characters, environments and systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Art, Animation, or a related field (or equivalent).
• 5–7 years in creating visual effects for video games with a strong portfolio.
• Proficiency in real-time VFX for Unreal Engine.
• Experience with VFX optimization and performance profiling.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
• Strong communication and collaboration abilities in a team setting.
• Experience creating stylized FX textures from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and grow the team — Manage, support, and inspire a team of VFX artists with regular critique and coaching.
• Lead visual effects creation — Guide development and implementation of visually stunning and optimized VFX for characters, environments, and gameplay.
• Own the visual and technical bar — Drive artistic vision from concept to final implementation, including particles, shaders, textures, and simulations.
• Partner with production — Work with producers to estimate needs, break down tasks, and align schedules with capacity.
• Collaborate across disciplines — Integrate VFX with animation, programming, tech art and design for performance optimization.
• Maintain and improve pipelines — Refine tools and workflows for efficient asset production and integration.
• Ensure performance targets — Ensure assets meet engine/ platform constraints with quality and optimization.

Skills

VFX artistry

Real-time VFX

Profiling/optimization

Team leadership

Communication

Problem solving

Stylized FX textures

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Art/Animation or related field

Tools

Unreal Engine

Niagara Fluids

Chaos Destruction

Houdini

Maya

Photoshop

Job description

Ember Lab is seeking a Lead VFX Artist to guide our visual effects and set both the technical and creative direction for our projects. You will mentor teammates and collaborate with art, design, and technical teams to realize immersive storytelling through vibrant visuals.

You will own the VFX pipeline from concept to implementation, optimize assets for performance, and help define the game's visual identity across characters, environments and systems.