Unreal UE5 Technical Artist

ABOUT US:

Saltwater Games is a creative alliance of studios dedicated to delivering unparalleled entertainment experiences that ignite the imagination of our audiences. Our passionate teams of creative professionals consist of industry veterans from renowned studios such as PlayStation, Codemasters, Sumo Digital, Interior Night and Mediatonic who are working on some exciting VR, multiplayer and mobile titles. At Saltwater we follow some key values:

• We are optimistic & brave
• We are honest & open
• We take ownership & responsibility

ABOUT YOU:

We're currently seeking a Technical Artist to join our team, dedicated to shaping both our ongoing endeavours and our highly anticipated upcoming projects. 

The role calls for a candidate enthusiastic about pioneering new tools, refining production pipelines and balancing enhancements to current technology and workflows. 

The ideal candidate will have a deep knowledge in Unreal, equipped with an understanding of rendering techniques and expertise in optimising art pipelines. Their skill set encompasses practical experience in profiling, optimization, and maintaining platform standards. 

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

As part of the development team, your role will involve collaborating closely with Production, Design, Animation, Art, QA and other team members to develop features, systems and tools for our projects.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work with both the Art and Programming teams to ensure our games look great and perform across the wide variety of PC and Console Platforms.
• Develop and optimise shaders, materials, and VFX within the Unreal Engine, striving to maximise the output of Unreal’s rendering pipeline.
• Implement and refine visual effects, ensuring they meet quality and performance standards.
• Create and maintain technical documentation for art pipelines and processes.
• Supporting the art and programming teams in terms of performance and technical implementation.
• Identifying and solving pipeline inefficiencies and proposing new ideas and workflows where required, taking into account the needs of each project and the studio as a whole.
• Troubleshoot and solve technical art challenges, ensuring smooth asset integration.
• Provide technical support and guidance to the art team.

Requirements

REQUIREMENTS:

• 3+ years of professional experience in a Technical Art environment, having contributed to at least one shipped title on console, mobile or PC.
• Strong experience with shader development and optimization.
• Strong ability to work with Blueprints (developing them and working with existing visual scripting).
• You are comfortable with Nanite and Lumen, and how Unreal 5’s render pipeline works.
• Experience with 3D modelling, texturing, and animation principles.
• You are a great communicator who can comfortably talk to everyone across all disciplines.
• You are willing to get stuck in and help-out anyone who is struggling and help keep the team moving forward at all times.

NICE TO HAVE:

• Experience with C++ and scripting languages such as Python.
• Experience working on racing (or similar) titles
• Experience utilising and creating tools across DCC packages such as Maya, Blender, Motionbuilder, Houdini and the Adobe Suite.
• Ideally, you should have some familiarity with Digital Asset Management tools and help to integrate them into our current pipeline. 

Benefits

• Salary: £50-60K
• Remote-first Studio
• Unlimited holidays
• Monthly well-being benefit scheme
• Regular team social events & studio summits 
• Working alongside a friendly, flexible, and highly talented team
• Opportunity to work on big-name IPs

To tell better stories and create inclusive experiences we welcome everyone, especially from under-represented people in our industry whose stories aren’t told often enough. Our research has suggested that sometimes people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to roles unless they meet every single listed requirement. At Saltwater Games we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive working environment, who you are will always deserve our consideration and recognition, and your application is welcome.