As a Senior Effects Technical Director at Industrial Light & Magic in Vancouver, you will independently design and execute complex, photorealistic visual effects—including particle systems, fluid dynamics, and rigid body destructions—for major feature films. Operating within a flexible hybrid work structure (2–3 days onsite per week).
This role requires a deep technical and artistic mastery of software like Houdini or Maya, fluency in Linux and Python scripting, and the capability to guide shots through lighting, rendering, and mid-level compositing. Beyond your individual technical contributions, you will collaborate closely with supervisors across the pipeline, provide accurate production estimates, and actively mentor junior artists. Candidates must offer a strong demo reel with a shot breakdown alongside 5+ years of industry experience with a degree, or 7+ years without one, for a position that offers a base salary range of C$126,700 to C$154,600 per year.
Senior Technical Director Job Overview
| Metric / Parameter | Position Details & Specifics |
| Company Name | Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) Vancouver Inc. (Subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) |
| Official Job Title | Senior Effects Technical Director (Senior FX TD) |
| Employment Type | Full-Time |
| Work Architecture | Hybrid (2–3 days per week onsite at the Vancouver studio, with remaining days remote) |
| Primary Location | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Compensation Range | C$126,700 to C$154,600 per year (Base salary based on a standard 40-hour work week) |
| Overtime & Schedule | Scheduled weekly hours may vary based on active production milestones and business demands |
| Core Software Requirements | Houdini, Maya, 3DS Max, Linux OS, and Python Scripting |
| Minimum Experience | 5 years with a relevant CG/Fine Arts degree OR 7 years of professional experience in lieu of a degree |
| Required Assets | Current Professional Resume, Demo Reel, and Comprehensive Shot Breakdown |
Core Responsibilities and Daily Workflows
As a Senior Effects Technical Director at ILM, you will operate with a high degree of autonomy, serving as both a technical powerhouse and a creative problem solver on major feature films. Your daily responsibilities will span across multiple areas of the production pipeline, from initial look-development to final shot delivery.
1. Advanced FX Generation & Simulation
Your primary technical objective is to design, develop, and execute complex, high-fidelity visual effects elements. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Procedural Simulations: Building scalable, reusable systems to generate natural phenomena, massive destruction events, or abstract magical elements.
- Dynamic and Particle Systems: Designing granular simulations, rigid and soft body dynamics, and complex particle behaviors that interact realistically with live-action plates or digital environments.
- Fluid Dynamics: Engineering high-resolution gas, smoke, fire, water, and splash simulations, ensuring they obey physical laws while aligning perfectly with the artistic direction of the film.
2. Shot Completion: Lighting, Rendering, & Compositing
Unlike pure simulation roles, a Senior Effects Technical Director (Senior FX TD) at ILM is expected to carry their work further down the pipeline. Under the guidance of VFX Supervisors and Sequence Leads, you will:
- Perform high-level lighting and rendering of your own FX elements to ensure they integrate seamlessly into the final shot plate.
- Execute moderate-level compositing, balancing color, grain, and edge blending to present a cohesive, near-final image during internal reviews.
- Manage data efficiently, ensuring shots are cleaned up, optimized for rendering, and properly archived within the studio infrastructure.
3. Pipeline Integration & Cross-Department Collaboration
High-end visual effects are an interdisciplinary team sport. You will be responsible for:
- Providing clean, highly optimized assets and caches to downstream departments, including Compositing (Comp) and the core Rendering teams.
- Translating complex mathematical and physical concepts into actionable artistic notes when collaborating with other departments.
- Presenting your ongoing work clearly within daily production reviews (dailies), taking constructive feedback from supervisors, and implementing changes rapidly under tight production schedules.
4. Leadership, Mentorship, & Specialized Projects
As a senior member of the crew, your responsibilities extend beyond individual shot creation:
- Mentorship: Actively guiding, training, and troubleshooting issues for junior and mid-level FX artists, helping them grow technically and artistically.
- Time Estimation: Providing production management with accurate, realistic time estimates for complex shot work to assist in scheduling and resource allocation.
- Special Projects: Spearheading R&D initiatives, testing new internal pipeline tools, and developing unique workflows for specific, unprecedented visual challenges.
Candidate Qualifications and Technical Requirements
Industrial Light & Magic is searching for a Senior Effects Technical Director who possesses an exceptional blend of creative intuition and rigorous technical aptitude. To be successful at ILM, candidates must meet the following criteria:
Experience & Education Matrix
To balance diverse career paths, ILM accepts either of the following paths for this senior-level role:
- The Academic Pathway: A minimum of five (5) years of professional, hands-on VFX pipeline experience coupled with a college-level diploma or degree in Computer Graphics, Fine Arts, Design, Photography, or a closely related technical field.
- The Industry Pathway: In lieu of a formal degree, a minimum of seven (7) years of documented, high-level professional VFX studio experience.
Technical Skill Set & Software Proficiency
- Simulation Mastery: Advanced, production-proven experience in Houdini (highly preferred), Maya, or 3DS Max. You must possess a deep understanding of particle networks, dynamics solvers (Vellum, Pyro, FLIP, RBD), and the mathematical expressions required to manipulate simulation data.
- Operating Systems & Automation: Comfort working natively within a Linux environment. You must have strong scripting capabilities in Python to automate repetitive tasks, build custom tools, and navigate ILM’s proprietary pipeline efficiently.
- Physics Frameworks: A strong conceptual and practical understanding of the physical laws governing fluid dynamics, gravity, friction, velocity, and material density, allowing you to create believable simulations.
Soft Skills & Artistic Excellence
- Aesthetic Sensitivity: An exceptional eye for scale, timing, weight, color, and composition. Your simulations must look photo-realistic and cinematically compelling, not just technically stable.
- Resilience & Communication: The ability to remain focused, structured, and collaborative when working under intense deadline pressures. You must display strong follow-through on tasks and speak clearly regarding technical roadblocks.
Compensation, Benefits, and Corporate Culture
Holistic Compensation Strategy
Industrial Light & Magic strives to offer a highly competitive total rewards package. The established base salary band for this Vancouver-based role is C$126,700 to C$154,600 annually.
The precise salary offer will be meticulously calibrated to reflect internal equity across our global teams, alongside the specific candidate’s geographic stability, specialized technical skill set, and years of top-tier feature film experience. Depending on the final level of the position offered, a robust suite of medical, dental, vision, financial savings, and variable incentive plans may be integrated into the final employment contract.
The Hybrid Work Advantage
This role leverages a flexible hybrid model, meticulously designed to offer the best of both worlds. Employees spend 2–3 days a week onsite at our state-of-the-art Vancouver facility. This setup preserves face-to-face creative collaboration, hands-on mentorship, and spontaneous team synergy, while allowing for remote work on the remaining days of the week to promote a healthy work-life balance.
Legacy and Belonging
By joining ILM, you become part of an enduring legacy of cinematic innovation. As a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, our employees belong to a massive, diverse international media ecosystem spanning Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. We operate in over 40 countries, united by a singular mission: to create world-class stories and experiences that resonate across generations and cultures.
Application Instructions
To be considered for this senior-level position, all candidates must submit a comprehensive digital application package containing:
1. A Current Resume: Documenting your employment history, production credits, software fluencies, and educational background.
2. A Professional Demo Reel: Showcasing your finest, most complex visual effects simulations, lighting setups, and rendered shots from recent feature films or high-end commercial projects.
3. A Detailed Shot Breakdown: A written guide accompanying your demo reel that clearly defines your exact individual contributions to each shot (e.g., “Responsible for all fluid simulation, custom particle expressions, lighting, and pre-compositing; geometry provided by layout department”).
