Senior Lighting Artist (Game Development)

Location: United States, Santa Monica, CA; hybrid / onsite

Salary: $69.09–$86.35 USD per hour

Company

Naughty Dog is a game development studio creating narrative-driven AAA titles, including The Last of Us and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

What you will do

• Develop lighting schemes for characters and environments in cinematic sequences.
• Collaborate with directors, concept artists, animators, VFX artists, and level lighting teams.
• Integrate in-game cinematics smoothly with gameplay.
• Optimize cinematics to meet memory budgets while preserving visual quality.
• Work with lighting artists and outsource vendors on visual looks, technology, training, and workflows.

Requirements

• Minimum 7 years of experience in games, animation, VFX, or film.
• Experience shipping a AAA game or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of direct and indirect lighting, color theory, exposure, contrast, shading, and materials.
• Ability to interpret concept art and color keys to recreate mood and atmosphere.
• Proficiency with Autodesk Maya and color-grading software such as Nuke, Fusion, or Resolve.
• Strong problem-solving, organization, time management, and independent working skills.

Nice to have

• Experience with real-time engines.
• Experience with light maps, pre-lighting, or baked lighting.
• Scripting experience.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on visually ambitious, narrative-driven game experiences.
• Collaborate across creative and technical disciplines.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits are available.
• Background checks are conducted at the offer stage.

Hiring process

• Submit a portfolio or demo reel.
• An art test may be required.