Senior Lighting / Compositing Artist - Temp (SFD / Cinematics)

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in interactive entertainment seeks a Senior II Lighting / Compositing Artist to contribute to cinematic experiences in gaming. This role involves designing lighting for characters and environments and requires 12 years of industry experience. The ideal candidate will collaborate with various departments to achieve high-quality visual content while working in a hybrid setting.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) with Company match

Paid holidays and vacation

Mental health & wellbeing programs

Free and discounted games

Relocation assistance

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years experience in game, TV, feature film, or commercial production.
• Proven ability to take ownership of complex sequences and collaborate with key creatives.
• A demo reel showcasing refined artistic understanding of light and composition.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement lighting characters and environments for shots.
• Maintain overall look, color balance, and quality for assigned shots.
• Work with FX department to integrate and develop FX.

Skills

Expert-level proficiency in Katana

Expert-level proficiency in Nuke

Expert-level proficiency in Maya

Expert-level proficiency in Linux

Expert-level proficiency in Renderman-RIS

Expert-level proficiency in Redshift

Strong eye for cinematic lighting

Color grading

Ability to adapt to new pipelines

Job description

Team Name:

Cinematics

Job Title:

Senior II Lighting / Compositing Artist - Temp (SFD / Cinematics)

Requisition ID:

R025348

Job Description:

We pride ourselves in forging amazing worlds and experiences for our players to dive into here at Blizzard. To accomplish these epic goals, we need committed, passionate, and creative people with amazing talent. We value a tight-knit team that celebrates artistic passion and pushing the creative bounds. If you dream of pushing your talents to help us build the next exciting Blizzard experience, then this could be the position for you.

The Blizzard Entertainment Animation team is seeking an experienced lighting /compositing artist to jump into working on Blizzard’s imaginative worlds. We are looking for someone with the experience and passion to make our shots epic (Both pre-rendered and real time contents). If you are passionate about diving into the creative collaboration that makes up the worlds of Diablo, World of Warcraft (WoW), Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, StarCraft, and other interesting projects, come join us.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Albany, NY or Irvine, CA. However, we understand each person’s circumstances may be unique and will work with you to explore other possible options, including remote work arrangements.

Responsibilities:

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Design and implement lighting characters and environments for shots that meet and enhance the given art direction.

• Maintain the overall look, color balance, and quality for assigned shots and sequences to create uniformity in all finished work.

• Work with the FX department to integrate and develop FX.

• Work closely with VFX supervisors, Art Directors, Producers, Lighting/Compositing Supervisor and Leads to achieve the final look.

• Accountable for achieving productivity and quota targets.

• Responsible for completing and quality control of all lighting and compositing of shots.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• A minimum of 12 years of experience in the game, TV, feature film, or commercial production environment.

• Proven ability to take ownership of complex sequences and collaborate with Directors, Art Directors, and Supervisors to define the visual language of a show.

• A demo reel showcasing a refined artistic understanding of light, composition, and mood.

• Track record of mentoring or guiding other artists and contributing to broader team or studio goals (e.g., tools, workflow improvements).

Knowledge & Skills

• Expert-level proficiencyin Katana, Nuke, Maya, Linux, Renderman-RIS, Redshift and a decent understanding of modern game engines. Can easily adapt to new pipelines and proprietary lighting tools.

• Ability to independently design, implement, and troubleshoot complex multi-shot lighting and compositing setups.

• Strong eye for cinematic lighting, color grading, and shot continuity—able to establish and maintain a look across sequences.

• Ability to determine the best approach to tackle lighting and compositing challenges and develop the final overall look.

• Ability to perform tasks associated with the compositing and lighting process, including 2D tracking, layering of elements, color grading, roto work, projection of elements, and extensive 3D compositing.

• Comfortable working in an iteration intensiveshotpipeline.

Extra Points

• Experience working in a full 3D Animated Pipeline.

• Experience working in a real-time Game Engine Pipeline.

Required Application Materials

• Resume (Cover Letter optional)

• Link to a portfolio/reel. Provide a demo reel and a description of your work per shot.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Candy Crush and Bubble Witch. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ -we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [e-mail]. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $53.74 - $99.46 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.