Senior Shader Technical Artist

31st Union; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 113,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid holidays

401(k) plan

Job summary

2K is seeking a Senior Shader Technical Artist in California to craft and optimize shader/master materials using UE5, HLSL and GLSL, ensuring clean integration for the materials team. You will push real-time rendering with high visual fidelity across disciplines and create reusable shader tooling and documentation.

The role requires 7+ years in Technical Art or a shipped title, strong cross-discipline collaboration, and experience with UE5, Substance Designer, Painter, and Photoshop.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in Technical Art or at least one shipped title.
• Proficient with node-based shader editors, layered material systems, shader networks, procedural texturing, and HLSL code.
• Strong understanding of textures and shaders in a physically-based rendering pipeline.

Responsibilities

• Craft and optimize shader/master materials in Unreal Engine for multiple teams.
• Establish and uphold artistic and technical shader standards.
• Develop shader techniques and shading validation tools; define shading standards.

Skills

Shader development

Unreal Engine

HLSL/GLSL

PBR shaders

Cross-discipline collaboration

Tools

UE5

Substance Designer

Substance Painter

Photoshop

Job description

We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games. We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better.

What We Need:

We’re seeking a Senior Shader Technical Artist to leverage their technical skills and artistic understanding to help develop and maintain a strong shader pipeline that will serve teams across multiple disciplines. Your passion, knowledge, and experience will be integral to the look and style of a new generation of player-driven experiences, stemming from your ability to create high-quality shaders and technology that bring life to the worlds we build.

What You’ll Do:

• Utilize extensive experience in Unreal Engine to meticulously craft and optimize shader/master materials using Unreal Engine’s node-based shader graph and HLSL/GLSL/CG shader code, ensuring they are built cleanly and efficiently for seamless integration and user-friendly utilization by the materials team.
• Collaborate with development teams to establish and uphold artistic and technical shader standards, pushing the boundaries of real-time rendering while adhering to performance constraints.
• Drive the development of innovative approaches to address complex technical and creative challenges, participating in the creation of shaders, shading validation tools, and defining shading standards.
• Provide technical support in identifying and resolving inefficient content pipelines, conducting performance profiling, and optimizing shaders to enhance overall visual fidelity and maintain desired frame rates.
• Demonstrate a strong sense of ownership and autonomy in task execution, producing high-quality work with minimal oversight, and actively seeking opportunities to enhance pipeline efficiency and visual quality.
• Create documentation, examples, and reusable best practices for distributed development teams, establishing and maintaining practical standards for assets, materials, textures, meshes, LODs, collision, naming, and project organization.
• Work with Art, Engineering, Design, Animation, Lighting, and other disciplines to solve cross-discipline production problems.
• Evaluate workflows and identify technical risks or production bottlenecks before they become larger problems.

What Will Make You a Great Fit:

• 7+ years of experience or at least one shipped title in a Technical Art role, with proficiency in creating stylized and PBR shaders using node-based shader editors, tiled layered material systems, shader networks, procedural texturing, and HLSL code.
• Strong understanding of the technical foundations behind visually stunning textures and shaders in a physically-based rendering pipeline.
• Ability to communicate and collaborate across disciplines, sharing ideas and articulating visions.
• Familiarity with all the tools, techniques, and asset creation pipelines: UE5, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Photoshop, modeling, baking, and texturing.

Bonus:

• Experience in Unreal Engine’s node-based shader graph.
• Strong understanding of console, PC, and mobile platforms, and how to scale shaders to optimize for each.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $112,700 and $164,860 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program. Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefi ts at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefi ts; and reimbursements for fi tness-related expenses. Ontario only: The use of Artifi cial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.

Finally, as a reminder, 2K is an equal employment opportunity employer. 2K does not discriminate, harass, or retaliate against individuals based on any protected characteristic. If you have any questions about this policy, please connect with [e-mail] for support.

Thank you for your help!