Lead Lighting Artist - Shape Atmosphere, Mentor Team

Placements24; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health insurance (medical, dental, and

vision

Job summary

Placements24 invites a highly skilled Lead Lighting Artist to steer lighting direction for our client's acclaimed game titles in Tembisa, Gauteng. You will mentor a team of lighting artists, define lighting aesthetics, and ensure consistency across environments, characters, and cinematics.

The role requires a strong artistic eye, technical prowess, and leadership to elevate visual fidelity and gameplay readability in fast-paced development cycles.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in lighting art for video games with at least 2 years in a lead or senior capacity.
• Portfolio showcasing lighting artistry in realistic and stylized environments.
• Proficiency with industry-standard lighting tools and game engines (Unreal/Unity).
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Fine Arts, Computer Graphics, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of lighting artists, providing artistic direction and technical guidance.
• Develop lighting strategies for game environments, characters, and cinematics.
• Collaborate with art directors, environment artists, and technical artists to meet visual targets.
• Create and optimize lighting assets including lightmaps and post-processing effects.
• Establish lighting style guides and technical benchmarks for the team.
• Ensure lighting contributes to mood, atmosphere, and gameplay readability.
• Troubleshoot lighting issues and performance bottlenecks.
• Conduct regular reviews of the team's work and mentor skill development.
• Stay current with industry trends in real-time rendering and lighting.
• Contribute to the overall art direction and visual quality of game projects.

Skills

Lighting artistry

Leadership

Mentoring

Team collaboration

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts / Computer Graphics

Tools

Unreal Engine

Unity

Maya

3ds Max

Substance Painter

Job description

Placements24 invites a highly skilled Lead Lighting Artist to steer lighting direction for our client's acclaimed game titles in Tembisa, Gauteng. You will mentor a team of lighting artists, define lighting aesthetics, and ensure consistency across environments, characters, and cinematics.

The role requires a strong artistic eye, technical prowess, and leadership to elevate visual fidelity and gameplay readability in fast-paced development cycles.