Senior Shader Technical Artist

WE ARE GAMEMAKERS

Who we are:

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.

Responsibilities:

• 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.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience or 2+ shipped titles 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.
• Strong understanding of console, PC, and mobile platforms, and how to scale shaders to optimize for each. 

Relevant Experience:

• Extensive experience in Unreal Engine 5 node-based shader graph is a plus!
• A self-starter who can align with the team's goals but isn't hesitant to create solutions on their own.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $90,000 and $135,000 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, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an 'at-will position' and the company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

SECURITY NOTICE -  We have recently been made aware of increasing occurrences of bad actors posing as company HR personnel to gain information from "potential candidates", in the form of job interviews and offers. These scams can be quite sophisticated and appear legitimate.

Please know that 31st Union and 2K never uses instant messaging apps to contact prospective employees or to conduct interviews.

If you believe you have been a victim of such a scam, you may fill out a complaint form at https://complaint.ic3.gov/ and https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ detailing as much as possible. We are taking these matters very seriously and apologize for any inconvenience.

Join our mission: Bring fun, inspiration and awe to our lives and to our community:
https://thirtyfirstunion.com/values

31st Union prides itself on the diversity of its team members, partners, and communities.  For this reason, we remain committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all aspects of the employment relationship, from recruitment and hiring through compensation, benefits, discipline and termination.  This means that employment at 31st Union depends on your substantive ability, objective qualifications and work ethic – not on your age, race (including traits historically associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), height, weight, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity and expression), alienage or citizenship status, transgender, military or veteran status, physical or mental disability (actual or perceived), medical condition, AIDS/HIV, denial of family and medical care leave, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, pregnancy status, childbirth, breastfeeding (or related medical conditions), marital status or registered domestic partner status, political activity or affiliation, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, arrest record, or taking or requesting statutorily protected leaves, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local laws.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are also committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation(s) to participate in the job application and/or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us if you need to request a reasonable accommodation.

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