Lead/Sr. UE Tech Artist — United States

Senior Technical Artist (Unreal Engine 5)Location: Remote | Type: Co-founder role (see below)

Our MissionJoin our team of talented developers and industry veterans building a new fantasy IP and genre-defining game. It blends fast-paced multiplayer action combat, familiar MMORPG mechanics, and deep RPG elements. We’re pushing the boundaries of competitive play to create a more accessible yet deeper arena fighter (think Overwatch meets WoW PvP). Our broader mission is to create immersive experiences that expand genre conventions and redefine player engagement, while enjoying work/life balance and sharing the spoils of our success.

The RoleWe’re looking for a Lead or Senior Technical Artist to build the technical foundation of our art pipeline. You’ll own the technical side of how our game looks and performs, especially combat VFX, character materials, and rendering performance. Your job is to make our abilities and hits look big and read clearly in chaotic multiplayer fights, while keeping the game running smoothly. You’ll work closely with our engineers, designers, artists, and technical animator, and you’ll help set the technical standards for the whole team.

We’re currently building toward a demo with an interim stylized look, so you’ll help shape the visual and technical direction as it matures.

Responsibilities• Collaborate with artists, engineers, designers, and our technical animator to build efficient, scalable art pipelines

• Create and maintain master materials, shader libraries, and visual scripting tools

• Build and optimize combat VFX in Niagara: ability effects, telegraphs, hit feedback, and impact effects that read clearly and perform well in crowded team fights

• Own game feel on the visual side: camera shakes and moves, hitstop, post-process effects, and Sequencer work for trailers and cinematics

• Establish VFX budgets and scalability (effect types, culling and significance, GPU vs. CPU sims, overdraw control)

• Optimize assets and rendering performance across characters, environments, VFX, and UI

• Profile and troubleshoot performance using tools like Unreal Insights, GPU Visualizer, and RenderDoc, including shader complexity, shader compile hitches, and material permutations

• Build and support modular character and cosmetic systems: team colors, skins, material parameter collections, and skeletal mesh and LOD budgets

• Prototype visual features using Blueprints, Niagara, and the Material Graph

• Support material-driven UI effects and UI animation (UMG)

• Support LOD systems and environment workflows (Nanite and World Partition as needed)

• Build pipeline tooling and automation: naming conventions, asset validation, editor utilities, and DCC-to-UE export standards

• Work within our source control workflow, keeping repo health, large-file handling, and cook/build performance in mind

• Troubleshoot technical issues and provide guidance on best practices

• Contribute to visual style guides and ensure technical consistency across assets

• Stay current on trends in technical art and real-time rendering

Requirements• Extensive technical art experience in game development 5+ years, ideally including at least 3 shipped titles)

• Strong understanding of Unreal Engine 5

• Strong proficiency in the Material Editor, Niagara, and Blueprint scripting

• Experience with industry-standard 3D software and scripting (Python, MEL, etc.)

• Strong understanding of PBR workflows, shader creation, and performance profiling

• Experience with source control in a team production environment

• Understanding of multiplayer considerations for visuals, such as cosmetic vs. gameplay-driven effects, replicated-event-triggered VFX, and relevancy

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, iterative development environment

• Portfolio or reel showcasing technical art work in real-time games, ideally stylized fantasy/sci-fi, though strong work in other genres is welcome

Bonus Qualifications• Comfort with C++ (small tools, plugins, Data Assets) and awareness of Blueprint performance pitfalls

• Experience with stylized shader techniques (toon shading, rim lighting, painterly effects)

• Experience with Gameplay Ability System (GAS) and Gameplay Cues for ability VFX

• Background in PvP, MMO, or arena combat game development

• Familiarity with rigging, animation systems, lighting, and procedural workflows (we already have a technical animator, so this is a plus)

• Experience with Lumen and Virtual Shadow Map performance tuning

• Experience in leadership or mentorship roles

• Previous experience on large-scale projects

• Passion for games, game development, and fantasy/sci-fi genres

Compensation & OwnershipThis is a co-founder role. Everyone on our team is a co-founder and stockholder, and we’re building a company together. Team members receive a percentage of company stock in return for their contributions, vesting over 4 years. We’re not paying salaries at this stage. Once we secure funding and/or publishing partners, we plan to add paid compensation on top of your equity.

You’ll receive a written agreement covering equity, vesting, and IP.

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