Realtime 3D Asset Engineer - Pipeline & Tools

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 100,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) seeks a Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer to create and optimize real-time 3D assets, materials, and scenes for training systems and engineering visualizations. You will build production-ready models from references and integrate into Unity, Unreal, and other engines.

Join a multidisciplinary team focused on critical national security challenges, developing tools, shaders, and pipelines while pushing performance and visual fidelity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in game art, technical art, digital art, computer graphics, game development, engineering, architecture, or equivalent.
• 3+ years of professional experience creating real-time 3D art for games, AR/VR, training systems, engineering visualization, simulation, or real-time applications.
• Portfolio showing finished 3D models, textures, materials, or scenes based on real-world source material.
• Experience with 3D content tools and real-time engine workflows (Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Substance tools, Unity, Unreal Engine or equivalents).
• Experience with scripting/shader authoring or programming to solve technical art problems and streamline workflows.
• Ability to obtain Interim Secret security clearance by start date; eligible for Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship.

Responsibilities

• Create, optimize, and integrate real-time 3D assets, materials, and scenes for training systems, engineering visualizations, interactive tools, and mission-focused applications.
• Build production-ready models, textures, and materials from reference photos, CAD, 3D scans, photogrammetry, engineering drawings, and other source material.
• Optimize 3D assets for real-time performance (polycount, draw calls, texture memory, LODs, colliders, scene organization).
• Develop and maintain source-to-engine asset pipelines into Unity, Unreal, or other real-time engines.
• Create tools, scripts, shaders, import/export workflows, and asset-processing utilities that streamline real-time content production.
• Collaborate with artists, engineers, and software developers to troubleshoot asset, rendering, shader, lighting, source control, and build issues.
• Help shape practical technical art standards for reference gathering, asset quality, visual accuracy, optimization, source control, and repeatable workflows.

Skills

Real-time 3D art

Shader writing

Pipeline troubleshooting

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field

Tools

Blender

Maya

3ds Max

Houdini

Substance tools

Unity

Unreal Engine

Git

GitLab

PlasticSCM

Job description

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) seeks a Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer to create and optimize real-time 3D assets, materials, and scenes for training systems and engineering visualizations. You will build production-ready models from references and integrate into Unity, Unreal, and other engines.

Join a multidisciplinary team focused on critical national security challenges, developing tools, shaders, and pipelines while pushing performance and visual fidelity.