Senior Material Artist - Hard Surface

Lighthouse Games is a new AAA studio in Leamington Spa. We are defined by our pedigree of talent and serious ambition to build a new best-in-class game. When you join us at Lighthouse, you’ll create the best work of your career within a collaborative, hybrid working environment. You’ll learn from the best and work alongside the future greats of the gaming industry.

As a Senior Technical Material/Shader Artist, you will play an important role in creating high-quality materials and shaders across all types of 3D artwork. Combining a strong artistic eye with technical expertise, you will develop scalable material systems and workflows that deliver visually compelling content within the performance requirements of a real-time AAA production.

Key duties

• Create high-quality materials and shaders that meet the project’s technical and artistic standards.
• Design, develop and maintain Unreal Engine Master Materials, shader systems and reusable material functions.
• Work with Art Leadership, Artists, Technical Artists and Render Engineers to balance visual quality, flexibility and performance.
• Contribute to scalable material pipelines, profile and optimise shader content, and support other artists through guidance and best practices.

Requirements

• Strong professional experience developing, implementing and optimising real-time materials and shaders in Unreal Engine.
• Advanced knowledge of Unreal Engine’s Material Editor, including Master Materials, material functions, parameterisation, layered materials and scalable shader architecture.
• Strong understanding of real-time rendering, PBR workflows, lighting, texture authoring and shader performance.
• Proficiency with tools such as Substance Designer and Substance Painter, supported by a strong portfolio demonstrating both artistic and technical ability.

Desirable

• Experience with HLSL, custom shader code, procedural material techniques, scripting or automation.
• Knowledge of photogrammetry, photography, scanning or physically accurate material capture.

Benefits

• 25 Days Holiday, plus 1 day for your birthday
• Studio Shutdown between Christmas and New Year
• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Private Pension Scheme
• Private Healthcare
• Health and Well-Being Benefits
• Dental Care
• Optical treatments
• Mental Health Support

Strong experience creating materials and textures for hard-surface assets, with an excellent understanding of real-world surface behavior. Ability to study real-world references and recreate convincing detail. Proficiency in content creation and rendering tools like Substance Painter/Designer, Max/Maya/Blender, or RealityCapture. Deep understanding of real-time rendering, lighting, PBR workflows, and industry standards. Exceptional organizational and collaborative skills.