Senior Technical Artist

Makeshift Software; Columbus (OH); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

OptiTrack Prime 41

Faceware Mark IV

Remote-first for 3–6 months

Hybrid on-site after grace period

Job summary

Makeshift Software Inc. seeks an experienced Graphics Engineer to own shader development, VFX, and GPU performance for Hexborn.

You will shape arcane spell effects, environment ambience, and combat visuals while ensuring smooth performance across target hardware. You will design shaders using Shader Graph, create and iterate VFX for spells and raid encounters, and profile GPU bottlenecks with the Unity Profiler, collaborating closely with designers, artists, and animators to uphold rendering

Qualifications

• Experience with shader development in game engines.
• Proficient in VFX creation for spells, hits, and area effects.
• Skilled in profiling GPU performance and optimizing draw calls.
• Strong collaboration with designers, artists, and animators.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement shaders in Shader Graph for arcane effects.
• Create and iterate on VFX for spells and combat encounters.
• Profile GPU performance and identify bottlenecks using Unity Profiler.
• Collaborate to translate creative direction into production-ready effects.
• Help establish rendering standards and shader guidelines as the team scales.

Skills

Shader development

VFX creation

GPU profiling

Collaboration

Tools

Shader Graph

Unity Profiler

Job description

Makeshift Software Inc. | Remote (3–6 months) Hybrid On-Site | Full-Time

About Hexborn

Hexborn is our upcoming dark fantasy action RPG — a brutal blend of hack-and-slash combat, deep dungeon crawling, guild progression, and player-driven rivalry set in a world consumed by an ever-expanding corruption known as the Graveglass Blight. Players rise from an unknown mage into the leader of a legendary guild, mastering arcane combat, recruiting allies, forging relics, and descending into cursed ruins and large-scale raids to uncover the truth behind their rare ability to fly.

The demo is live now on Steam.

We're a small, focused team building something visually distinct — moody, atmospheric, and combat-driven — and we need an engineer who can make our arcane VFX and lighting hit as hard as our combat feels.

The Role

We're looking for an experienced Graphics Engineer to own shader development, visual effects, and GPU performance for Hexborn.
You'll be building the arcane spell effects, environmental atmosphere, and combat VFX that define the game's dark fantasy identity — while making sure all of it runs cleanly across our target hardware.
This is a hands-on, high-ownership role.
You won't just be implementing effects from a spec — you'll be shaping how magic, corruption, and combat look and feel in Hexborn, and profiling relentlessly to keep frame times honest as the scope of raids and dungeons grows.

What You'll Do

• Design and implement shaders in Shader Graph for character effects, arcane magic, environmental corruption (Graveglass Blight), and combat feedback
  
• Create and iterate on VFX for spells, hits, area effects, and large-scale raid encounters
  
• Profile and optimize GPU performance using the Unity Profiler, identifying and resolving bottlenecks across shading, overdraw, and draw calls
• Collaborate closely with combat designers, artists, and animators to translate creative direction into performant, production-ready effects
  
• Help establish and maintain rendering standards and shader guidelines as the team scales

Perks & Tools

• OptiTrack Prime 41 motion capture system
• Faceware Mark IV mocap helmets for facial performance capture
• Industry-grade workstation, built to spec: see our standard build
• Remote-first for the first 3–6 months, transitioning to hybrid on-site thereafter

Work Arrangement

We'll start fully remote for a 3–6 month grace period while you ramp up and get embedded with the team, then transition to a hybrid on-site schedule.

Makeshift Software Inc. is the developer and publisher of Hexborn.