Senior Lighting Artist

WorkinGames; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k)

Remote-first

Job summary

BulletFarm is seeking a Senior Lighting Artist to own the lighting vision for our next AAA title. You will work closely with the Art Director, Technical Art, and Engineering to craft atmospheric, gameplay-driven lighting using Unreal Engine 5, Lumen, and MegaLights.

This hands-on role requires both artistic flair and deep technical fluency, with ownership from look development to in-engine polish and optimization across platforms.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience as a Lighting Artist on AAA/AA titles.
• Expert-level proficiency with Unreal Engine 5 lighting workflows.
• Deep expertise with Lumen (GI, reflections, performance).
• Hands-on with MegaLights or similar next-gen lighting systems.
• Strong understanding of real-time lighting fundamentals (composition, color, exposure).
• Demonstrated ability to create atmospheric lighting that supports both art direction and gameplay readability.

Responsibilities

• Create and implement real-time lighting across gameplay environments, cinematics, and scripted experiences.
• Own lighting execution from look development through in-engine polish.
• Establish lighting standards, workflows, and best practices for the project.
• Work with UE5 Lumen GI and reflections.
• Leverage MegaLights and other UE5 lighting tech for ambitious, performant scenes.
• Collaborate with Art Director to translate visual direction into lighting across environments.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5 lighting

Lumen

MegaLights

Lighting optimization

Collaboration with Art/Engineering

Strong portfolio

Tools

Maya

Blender

ZBrush

Substance Painter

Substance Designer

Job description

What We're Looking For

We are seeking a Senior Lighting Artist to own and execute the lighting vision for our next AAA title. Working closely with the Art Director, Technical Art, and Engineering teams, you will be responsible for creating atmospheric, gameplay-driven lighting that establishes mood, guides the player, and brings our environments to life. This is a hands-on role for an artist with deep expertise in Unreal Engine 5 and modern real-time lighting workflows. You will work extensively with Lumen and help establish the lighting techniques, standards, and workflows that will carry the project from early development through production. As a member of a small, highly collaborative team, versatility is important. While lighting will be your primary discipline, you should be comfortable contributing directly to environment art when project needs require it, including the creation, modification, and implementation of production-ready environment assets.

The ideal candidate is a lighting specialist with both exceptional artistic instincts and deep technical fluency in Unreal Engine 5. You understand that great lighting is about more than making a scene look beautiful – it establishes mood, creates tension, guides player attention, reinforces gameplay, and helps define the identity of a world. You know Lumen inside and out and are excited about pushing newer Unreal Engine technologies such as MegaLights to achieve ambitious visual results without losing sight of performance. You are comfortable diagnosing technical lighting problems, collaborating directly with engineers and technical artists, and finding creative solutions within real production constraints. Most importantly, you are excited by the opportunity to help establish the visual foundation of a new AAA title and have significant ownership over how its worlds look, feel, and perform.

What You’ll Do

• Create and implement high-quality real-time lighting across gameplay environments, cinematics, and scripted experiences.
• Own lighting execution from initial look development through final in-engine polish.
• Establish lighting standards, workflows, documentation, and best practices for the project.
• Work extensively with Unreal Engine 5's Lumen Global Illumination and reflection systems.
• Leverage MegaLights and other modern UE5 lighting technologies to build visually ambitious, performant scenes.
• Partner with the Art Director to translate the project's visual direction into compelling lighting across multiple environments and world aesthetics.
• Use lighting to establish atmosphere, reinforce environmental storytelling, direct player attention, and support gameplay readability.
• Collaborate closely with Environment Art, Technical Art, Design, and Engineering to ensure lighting integrates effectively with world content and gameplay.
• Profile and optimize lighting to meet visual and performance targets across supported platforms.
• Troubleshoot lighting, shadowing, exposure, reflection, and performance issues within Unreal Engine 5.
• Contribute to environment art production when needed, including creating, modifying, dressing, and optimizing environment assets.
• Help establish workflows that allow lighting and environment content to scale effectively as the project and team grow.
• Review externally produced content and provide feedback to ensure lighting and environment assets meet established visual and technical standards.

Qualifications Required

• 6+ years of experience as a Lighting Artist or equivalent role on one or more shipped AAA or AA titles.
• Expert-level proficiency with Unreal Engine 5 lighting workflows.
• Deep expertise with Lumen, including Global Illumination, reflections, performance considerations, and troubleshooting.
• Hands-on experience with MegaLights or demonstrated experience working with advanced next-generation real-time lighting systems and workflows.
• Strong understanding of real-time lighting fundamentals, including composition, color, value, exposure, shadow, contrast, and visual hierarchy.
• Demonstrated ability to create atmospheric lighting that supports both artistic direction and gameplay readability.
• Strong understanding of lighting optimization and the performance implications of real-time lighting techniques.
• Experience working collaboratively with Environment Art, Technical Art, Design, and Engineering.
• Ability to take established visual direction and independently execute it to a high level of quality.
• Strong artistic eye and portfolio demonstrating exceptional real-time lighting work.
• Comfortable contributing outside of a narrowly defined lighting discipline when production needs require it.

Preferred

• Preferred Proficiency with environment art tools such as Maya, Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, or equivalent.
• Experience with modular environment workflows, materials, set dressing, and world-building.
• Experience with MegaLights in a production or advanced development environment.
• Experience lighting horror, action, grounded dark fantasy, or similarly atmospheric titles.
• Experience with cinematics and Unreal Engine Sequencer.
• Familiarity with Nanite, Virtual Shadow Maps, material systems, and other modern Unreal Engine 5 rendering technologies.
• Experience optimizing lighting and environment content for current-generation consoles and high-end PC.
• Experience working with external development or outsourcing partners.

Why Join Us

BulletFarm is an independent, AAA studio. We are a creative partnership backed by GreaterThan Group, a strategic co-owner with deep gaming industry experience and a long-term ownership model aligned with the studio's success. We are remote first: work alongside a small, senior team from anywhere in the US or Canada on a project with a clear 2030 launch target on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Join early enough that your decisions matter: the studio is at a stage where the people building it have direct influence over how it operates, what it values, and how it makes games.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range listed above reflects the budgeted range for this role in USD. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, skills, and qualifications. BulletFarm offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), and flexible paid time off.

Equal Opportunity Employer

BulletFarm is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to building a team that reflects a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

Pay Transparency

In compliance with applicable state and local pay transparency laws: including those in Colorado, California, New York, Washington, and Illinois, the salary range for this position is disclosed in the compensation section above.

Accommodations

Applicants who require reasonable accommodations during the application or interview process are encouraged to contact us at [e-mail].