Grip Studios is a premier game development collective dedicated to pushing the boundaries of environmental storytelling. We believe that lighting is not just a technical necessity but the primary conduit for emotion, atmosphere, and player immersion. We are currently seeking a visionary Senior Lighting Artist to join our team and help define the visual identity of our next ambitious open-world project.

At Grip Studios, you will be part of a high-performance culture that values “strong-looking” environments. We don’t just build levels; we craft experiences where every shadow tells a story and every light source guides the journey. If you are a master of Unreal Engine 5 and have a passion for blending cinematic artistry with real-time performance, we want to hear from you.

Lighting at Grip Studios is the bridge between Level Design and Art Direction. As our Lighting Artist, your primary mission is to use light and shadow to enhance gameplay readability while maintaining a “photo-real” or “stylized-naturalistic” aesthetic. You will be responsible for the “Golden Hour” in our open worlds, the damp gloom of our subterranean environments, and the high-octane drama of our cinematics.

Key Responsibilities

• Aesthetic Leadership: Collaborate directly with the Art Director to establish the visual “North Star” for the project. You will be the guardian of the mood, ensuring that the lighting consistently reflects the narrative tone.
• Open-World Illumination: Design and implement robust real-time lighting systems for expansive open-world environments. This includes managing dynamic day/night cycles, global illumination, and atmospheric scattering.
• Cinematic & Vignette Lighting: Beyond world-building, you will craft bespoke lighting setups for high-fidelity cinematics and character vignettes, using 3-point lighting and cinematic techniques to pull focus and evoke emotion.
• Gameplay Facilitation: Work hand-in-hand with Level Designers to ensure that lighting isn’t just “pretty”—it must be functional. You will use light to guide player navigation (pathfinding) and ensure that combat or puzzle areas are legible and fair.
• Technical Orchestration: Manage the full spectrum of post-processing tools. This includes fine-tuning Color Grading (LUTs), Exposure (Auto/Manual), Bloom, Depth of Field, and Volumetric Fog to achieve a polished, final-frame look.
• Performance & Optimization: One of the most critical aspects of this role is maintaining the “frame budget.” You will work with Tech Art and Engineering to profile GPU costs, optimize shadow casting, and ensure the game runs smoothly across target platforms without sacrificing visual fidelity.
• Workflow Documentation: As a senior member of the team, you will contribute to the internal “Lighting Bible,” documenting best practices and efficient workflows to help onboard future talent and maintain project consistency.

What We Are Looking For

We are seeking a candidate who views a scene through both the lens of a cinematographer and the eyes of a technical artist. You should be someone who notices the way light bounces off a specific PBR material and knows exactly how to fix a light leak in a complex mesh.

Technical Requirements

• AAA Experience: A minimum of 3+ years of professional experience in real-time lighting for AAA titles.
• UE5 Expert: Deep, hands-on knowledge of Unreal Engine 5. You must be proficient with Lumen, Nanite, World Partition, and the Substrate material system.
• PBR Mastery: A fundamental understanding of Physically Based Rendering. You should understand how Albedo, Roughness, and Metallic values interact with different light intensities and temperatures.
• Mathematical & Physical Logic: A strong grasp of real-world physics (inverse square law, Kelvin temperatures) and how to replicate them—or strategically break them—in a game engine.
• Optimization Skills: Proven ability to debug lighting artifacts, shadow acne, and performance bottlenecks. You should be comfortable using profiling tools (RenderDoc, Unreal Insights) to identify “expensive” lights.

Artistic Requirements

• The “Eye”: A portfolio that demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of color theory, composition, and value ranges. We want to see how you handle contrast and negative space.
• Visual Narrative: The ability to tell a story through a single still image. Your portfolio should show how lighting can change the “feel” of a room from welcoming to predatory.
• Iterative Mindset: A proactive problem-solver who takes feedback constructively. We iterate fast, and your ability to pivot based on playtest data or Art Direction shifts is vital.

Compensation & Salary Guide

At Grip Studios, we believe in rewarding talent. Our salary structures are competitive and reviewed annually to reflect the current gaming industry standards.

Why Join Grip Studios?

We aren’t just a studio; we are a “Quest.” We offer a culture of innovation where your voice is heard, and your artistic imprint is visible on every frame.

• Cutting-Edge Tech: Work with the latest builds of UE5 and high-end hardware.
• Creative Freedom: We encourage our artists to experiment. If you find a better way to handle global illumination, we want to see it.
• Health & Balance: Comprehensive medical insurance, wellness stipends, and a strict “No-Crunches” policy. We value your mental health as much as your artistic output.
• Career Progression: Annual training budgets to attend events like GDC or Unreal Fest, and clear pathways for internal promotion.

To be considered for this role, you must provide:

1. A Resume/CV highlighting your AAA experience.
2. A Digital Portfolio/Reel (ArtStation, personal site, or YouTube) showcasing real-time lighting work in Unreal Engine. Please include breakdowns of your lighting setups (e.g., showing the scene without post-processing or showing light complexity passes).
3. A Brief Cover Letter explaining your favorite “lighting moment” in a modern video game and why it worked.

Note: While the original prompt mentions “Gameplay Programmer” in the closing text, please note that this specific application is for the Lighting Artist position. We are looking for artists who want to create worlds, not just play in them.