Shaders & Materials Tech Artist Intern (Gamedev)

TL;DR

Shaders & Materials Tech Artist Intern (Gamedev): Authoring shaders and materials as a mentored project in industry-standard tools like Unreal Engine, Maya, and Substance Painter. Focus on performance profiling using Unreal Insights, supporting senior technical artists with material features, and enhancing understanding of advanced game development technology.

Location: Hybrid - San Carlos, CA. Able to work onsite at our studio in San Carlos, CA for the first 1- 2 weeks for onboarding. The work arrangement for the remainder of the program (onsite, hybrid, or remote) will be confirmed prior to the start date and will vary based on assigned team and project needs. Legal eligibility to work in the United States required.

Salary: $21-25 per hour, plus a stipend to help with expenses during the duration of the program.

Company

hirify.global is committed to making great games with great people and living the dream while doing it.

What you will do

• Acquire essential skills using industry-standard tools, software and scripting languages such as Unreal Engine, Maya, Python, Substance Painter & Designer and GPU debuggers.
• Participate in the authoring shaders and materials as a small, mentored project, following technical art development process.
• Use performance profiling tools such as Unreal Insights to identify GPU, CPU, and memory concerns and then distribute optimization recommendations to the team to support performance goals.
• Support more senior technical artists with authoring material features and resources, managing existing assets and content debt, fixing validation errors, and keeping documentation up to date.
• Enhance your understanding of advanced game development technology, focusing on Unreal Engine.

Requirements

• Enrolled as a college Junior or Senior (Seniors could have graduated in Fall/Winter 2025 or will be graduating in Spring 2026).
• Pursuing a degree in Animation, Art, Game Art, Technical Art, Game Design, Game Development, Engineering, or related fields.
• Availability to work full-time (40 hrs / week) for the duration of the program (June 1st –August 21st, 2026).
• Able to work onsite at our studio in San Carlos, CA for the first 1- 2 weeks for onboarding. The work arrangement for the remainder of the program (onsite, hybrid, or remote) will be confirmed prior to the start date and will vary based on assigned team and project needs.
• Legal eligibility to work in the United States.
• Submission of a complete application that includes a resume, cover letter, and a link to your portfolio or GitHub.

Nice to have

• Portfolio demonstrating foundational technical art skills, including one or more of the following: In-engine shaders or materials, Tiling and one-to-one material assets, Blog posts, articles, or other documentation that showcase an understanding of PBR, rendering pipelines, or optimization.
• Industry involvement outside classroom curriculum such as game jams, personal projects and/or contributions to group projects that show going above and beyond.
• Exposure to industry-standard development software tools and engines.
• Willingness to tackle challenges, learn from feedback, and adapt to new tools or workflows.
• Ability to communicate your ideas with eagerness to learn and put feedback into action.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive regional salary.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance options.
• Professional development reimbursement.
• Flexible hybrid on-site/off-site work opportunities.
• Company paid holidays, plus additional paid days in December when the studio is closed for holiday break.
• Ability to accrue additional paid time-off.