Lighting Artist (Unreal Engine)

Location: Remote within the UK or based in the West Midlands; full-time contractor. Birmingham-area studio location.

Company

hirify.global is an independent game developer delivering internal projects and co-development work for AAA studio and publisher partners.

What you will do

• Block out, implement, and optimise gameplay-driven, ambient, and cinematic lighting from prototype through final implementation.
• Develop visually striking lighting setups that support mood, gameplay, atmosphere, and player experience.
• Collaborate with Art, Design, Creative, Leads, and Production teams to maintain a consistent visual identity and quality bar.
• Participate in content reviews, provide creative feedback, and incorporate revisions into game content.
• Follow content creation, optimisation, and performance best practices across target platforms.
• Manage priorities, raise issues, and deliver high-quality lighting work on schedule.

Requirements

• Proven game lighting experience with a portfolio showing modern, high-quality real-time PBR lighting work.
• Strong Unreal Engine lighting knowledge, including Lumen, VSMs, atmospherics, volumetrics, Lightmass, mesh distance fields, post-process effects, exposure control, and colour grading.
• Experience profiling and optimising lighting with RenderDoc or Unreal Insights across multiple platforms.
• Experience creating LUTs or colour-grading profiles and familiarity with GPU Lightmass or baked GI workflows.
• Strong fundamentals in composition, value control, colour theory, mood, readability, and guiding player attention.
• Effective communication, collaboration, time management, and end-to-end ownership of deliverables.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of Blueprint and other approaches for creating bespoke Unreal lighting solutions and systems.
• Understanding of cinematography and photography fundamentals, including exposure, contrast, lens behaviour, and lighting subjects.
• Adjacent skills in Cinematics, Concept Art, or Environment Art.
• Previous shipped titles within a relevant game art production pipeline.

Culture & Benefits

• Friendly and supportive environment within an independent game studio.
• Opportunity to work on AAA titles and IP with established studio and publisher partners.
• Exposure to a wide range of internal and external game projects.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this opportunity.

Hiring process

• Submit a portfolio and cover letter.
• Portfolio samples from previous studios must be cleared for release by the copyright owners.