Marathon Senior Lighting Artist

Bungie; United States; Remote; USD 102,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading gaming company seeks a Senior Lighting Artist to enhance the visual aesthetics of its projects. This key role involves creating real-time lighting setups, collaborating with various teams, and ensuring a captivating player experience. Interested candidates should possess deep expertise in lighting techniques and rendering technologies, as well as strong communication and organizational skills.

Benefits

Comprehensive healthcare coverage

Generous 401(k) matching

Flexible time off policies

Paid parental leave

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of lighting, shadow, and color for visual engagement.
• Experience lighting characters, environments, and dynamic settings.
• Familiarity with materials, shaders, and their relationship to light.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with teams to maintain lighting standards.
• Create lighting setups for in-game environments and narratives.
• Stay updated on rendering developments related to lighting.

Skills

Lighting

Color Balance

Real-time Rendering

3D Modeling

Communication

Organizational Skills

Tools

Unreal Engine 4

Unreal Engine 5

Unity3D

Job description

Bungie is looking for a Senior Lighting Artist to help illuminate our in-game worlds. If you are fascinated by mood and tone of environments, care about navigational queues and guiding what the player sees, and interested in creating captivating worlds, then we’d love to talk. Regardless of natural versus artificial light sources, color grading or visual effects - we recognize the impact that lighting has on the player experience and the visual fidelity of our worlds.

As a Senior Lighting Artist, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the visual aesthetics and emotional resonance of our projects. You will be responsible for creating and implementing stunning real-time lighting setups that enhance the tone, visual storytelling and gameplay experience. Collaborating closely with art directors, environment artists, and technical teams, you will ensure that all lighting solutions are not only visually striking but also optimized for performance and aligned with artistic vision. Your expertise in light theory, color balance, and real-time rendering will be essential in elevating the visual fidelity of our work, setting new standards for realism and immersion.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collaborate with lighting leadership, Art Direction and cross-discipline team members to maintain lighting’s aesthetic and technical standards
• Work with proprietary toolsets to own the creation of lighting for significant portions of our in-game worlds
• Develop dynamic/scripted lighting, character and hard surface object light rigs, and in-game narrative content from start to finish
• Work with Design stakeholders to ensure gameplay needs are met
• Stay informed on new developments in rendering, particularly about lighting, atmosphere, and surfaces
• Provide constructive feedback to production artists who are working on lighting-related

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strong understanding and sense in lighting, shadow, and color to create a visually engaging space
• Ability to follow and adapt to a wide range of design references and narrative context to achieve lighting expectations for mood, tone, and fidelity
• Experience in lighting characters and environments, interior & exterior, different times of day, etc. With various lighting techniques and tools
• Understanding of composition and the ability to enhance mood through lighting
• Experience with materials/shaders and an understanding of their relationship with light
• Competent 3d modeling / texturing skills (ie. light fixtures / practical support for light sources)
• Wide understanding of lighting/rendering technologies
• Strong organizational and communication skills
• Comfortable working autonomously and in a collaborative environment in taking direction from Art Director/Leads and working with others on problem-solving
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4, 5, Unity3D or other modern development toolsets
• Experience with and passion for games

NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

• Experience partnering with graphics engineers, tech art, and tools teams to develop lighting processes and technology
• Experience guiding the work of more junior artists
• Experience coordinating team efforts with external developers

Listed below is this role's base pay range. In other locations that Bungie has approved for remote work, this pay range may be adjusted up to +/- 10% and some roles may be classified as non-exempt (hourly).

This range is determined by an array of factors, including training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, and market demands. Additionally, it is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

In the journey to make incredible worlds, Bungie employees don't simply do meaningful work - they receive meaningful support. Competitive salaries and discretionary bonus opportunities are just the start. We offer comprehensive healthcare coverage, generous 401(k) matching, flexible time off policies, paid parental leave, social clubs, and so much more. Check out our benefits page: Benefits - Bungie Careers to see all the perks that come with joining Bungie. Bellevue Pay Range $102,000 — $125,000 USD

So you don't meet every requirement listed in this job description? Do you think your experience level is not where it needs to be? Studies show that members of certain underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they believe they meet every single qualification. Bungie is focused on building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace. If you're interested in this position but your past experience doesn't line up perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we want you to apply anyway. The right role for you may be right around the corner!

Most Bungie full-time employees will adopt a digital first approach allowing remote work in Bungie approved locations (outside of positions identified as 100% onsite in Bellevue/Seattle, or individuals preferring a hybrid/flex environment). Prospective full-time employees who are located outside of a Bungie approved state will need to establish residency in an approved state within 45 days of their start date. Contractors will follow a digital first approach adhering to the location guidelines agreed upon by our third-party employer/vendor and Bungie. Bungie’s remote policy is subject to change at the company’s discretion.