Principal Lighting Artist - Echtra Games

Who We Are:

Zynga is a global leader in interactive entertainment with a mission to connect the world through games and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). With massive global reach in more than 175 countries and regions, the combined diverse portfolio of popular game franchises has been downloaded more than 6 billion times on mobile, including Star Wars™: Hunters, CSR Racing™, Dragon City, Empires & Puzzles™, FarmVille™, Golf Rival™, Hair Challenge™, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells™, High Heels!™, Merge Dragons!™, Merge Magic!™, Monster Legends, Toon Blast™, Top Eleven, Toy Blast™, Two Dots, Words With Friends™, and Zynga Poker™.Founded in 2007, Zynga is headquartered in California with locations in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.zynga.com or follow Zynga on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or the Zynga blog

Position Overview

We are looking for a Principal Lighting Artist to join our growing team and help craft Echtra’s next AAA PC and Console ARPG. As Lead Lighting Artist this individual will be responsible for managing overall level lighting and environment ambiance, mood, and background artwork, while also driving specific cinematic story-beat moments.  They will also be responsible for unifying and last-mile tuning of the lighting delivered by our Environment Artists and Level Designers, as well as pre-lighting the many props that will be placed in the world. Clear gameplay pathing driven by lighting is important, and will be a major component of the job.

Echtra Games is a medium sized and growing game studio in San Francisco with a team of veteran game developers and visionary newcomers who work both on-site and remotely. At Echtra, we value diversity and support work-life balance. We also have great benefits, an open vacation policy, and flexible schedules!

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Design and implement the visual quality and mood for game environments, characters, and cinematics
• Collaborate with Art Directors, Level Designers, and Environment Artists to achieve the artistic vision consistently and in a performant manner across the game.
• Participate in planning of lighting needs and goals
• Work with TAs and Engineers to enhance tools and workflows to maximize efficiency
• Provide leadership to Lighters in career development, performance, and goals and priorities. 

Desired Skills and Experience

• 5+ years experience as a Lighting Artist in game, film, or CG industry
• Experience with Unreal 5+ or similar technology preferred
• A strong portfolio that demonstrates experience lighting environments and characters for AAA games
• You have an intuitive understanding of lighting fundamentals, mood, composition, color theory, space, material, and light
• Must be comfortable taking on responsibility for the development of complex lighting solutions and guiding the team to consistently achieve the quality bar
• Strong experience with Post-processing and color correction
• Good communication skills, positive attitude, and great work ethic
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative team environment
• You are proficient with post-process and color-correction toolsets to enhance look and feel

Pluses

• Experience with cinematic rendering
• Demonstrates passion and talent for games and game development
• You demonstrate an understanding of contemporary lighting and surfacing methodologies, including physically based rendering tools, exposure settings, shaders, and materials

What We Offer You:

Zynga offers a world-class benefits package that helps support and balance the needs of our teams. To find out more about our benefits, visit the Zynga Benefits site

The pay range for this position in  California and Illinois at the start of employment is expected to be between $100,700 and $149,060 per year. 

However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.   Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.  Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an "at-will position" and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, which means we are committed to creating and celebrating diverse thoughts, cultures, and backgrounds throughout our organization.  Employment with us is based on substantive ability, objective qualifications, and work ethic – not an individual’s race, creed, color, religion, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence or sex offenses, reproductive health decision, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing the necessary support and accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, health conditions, or impairments (subject to any local qualifying requirements) to ensure their full participation in the job application or interview process. Please contact us at accommodationrequest@zynga.com to request any accommodations or for support related to your application for an open position.

Please be aware that Zynga does not conduct job interviews or make job offers over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp, or others.  Zynga also does not engage in any financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process, and will never ask a candidate for their personal or financial information over an app or other unofficial chat channel.  Any attempt to do so may be the result of a scamp or phishing attack, and you should not engage.  Zynga’s  in-house recruitment team will only contact individuals through their official Company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com, naturalmotion.com, smallgiantgames.com, themavens.com, gram.gs email domain).