Film & TV Full-Time Work from Office

Lighting Artist / Technical Director

Company: The Walt Disney Company

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: $103,812 – $132,930 USD / Year

About the Role

The Walt Disney Company is seeking a Lighting Artist / Technical Director to support future immersive entertainment and interactive projects. This expression of interest role is aimed at experienced lighting professionals passionate about cinematic storytelling, real-time rendering, and advanced visual experiences.

The role involves working with ILM’s Interactive team to create visually compelling environments, optimize lighting pipelines, and contribute to innovative VR, AR, and immersive productions.

Job Overview

The Lighting Artist / Technical Director will collaborate closely with art directors, lighting leads, and production teams to design and implement high-quality lighting setups for environments, characters, and interactive assets. The position combines artistic vision with strong technical execution in modern game engine workflows.

Candidates should possess expertise in real-time rendering, shader workflows, physically based rendering pipelines, and lighting optimization techniques for immersive projects.

Key Responsibilities

Lighting Design: Create and implement lighting setups for environments, characters, and gameplay assets using real-time rendering workflows.
Pipeline Development: Support and improve lighting pipelines, workflows, and optimization techniques across projects.
Technical Collaboration: Work with environment, character, and VFX artists to achieve artistic and performance goals.
Dynamic Lighting: Partner with level designers to develop dynamic lighting transitions and blueprint-driven effects.
Shader Optimization: Develop and optimize materials, shaders, and PBR workflows for immersive experiences.
Bug Fixing: Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve technical lighting and rendering issues alongside engineering teams.

Qualifications

5+ years of experience in lighting for AAA games, film, animation, or VFX production.
Strong understanding of real-time lighting systems, HDR IBL workflows, and atmospheric effects.
Experience with Unreal Engine, Unity, or equivalent real-time game engines.
Advanced knowledge of shaders, PBR pipelines, and material workflows.
Proficiency with collaboration and production management tools such as JIRA and Perforce.
Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Animation, Visual Effects, Game Art, Computer Graphics, or a related field preferred.
Equivalent professional production experience may be accepted.
Strong portfolio or demo reel demonstrating lighting and technical art expertise is required.