Principal Lighting Artist - League of Legends

As a Principal Lighting Artist on League of Legends, you will play a pivotal role in creating and guiding the visual and emotional tone of one the best known PC games ever made. You will be responsible for making and maintaining real time lighting setups that help create a stunning visual tone that delights players from all over the world. You will work with art directors, artists, engineers and technical artists to make and implement new modern lighting solutions that are stunning to look at and are optimized for performance.  

The Principal Lighting Artist on League of Legends is a subject matter expert that is accountable for the final look and performance of the lighting solutions being used within the around game and in-game experience. You will be authoring and implementing new lighting solutions, advocate for best, practical practices and push the boundaries of what lighting can be within League of Legends. You will be hands on and directly support the lighting solutions in game as the primary lighting expert. 

Responsibilities:

• Author solutions to drive the visual output of the lighting solutions used in the around game and in-game environments
• Help develop lighting workflows, tools, and engine improvements to support creative goals from the Art and Product teams.
• Work with art leadership to evaluate current lighting technology and iterate on existing systems to meet look-dev goals.
• Collaborate with tools and rendering teams on enhancements to our lighting workflows
• Be a bridge between Art and Engineering in the realm of lighting
• Create and consolidate documentation for using our lighting systems, and build discipline-wide habits to keep them up to date.
• Own the performance and optimization efforts around lighting sets by implementing against standards practices informed by tech optimization teams.

Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years of professional experience as a Lighting Artist in video games
• Has pre production and production experience on at least 2 AAA titles as a Senior Lighting Artist 
• Demonstrated experience creating lighting solutions in a real time game environment
• A collaborative attitude towards bridging the gap between artistic goals and technical considerations with Art and Engineering
• An understanding of modern lighting theory, including physically based rendering (PBR) and other associated technologies and techniques used in modern consumer-grade game engines such as Unreal or Unity
• An ability to translate artistic requirements into functional and performant lighting solutions used in a real-time rendering environment

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience using proprietary game engines
• Understanding of the math and components of a BRDF
• Experience with color theory and composition
• Experience with surfacing and texturing
• Expertise in content creation and tool development in DCC tools, especially Maya, Photoshop, and Substance
• Knowledge of Python for scripting
• Experience profiling and optimizing performance of Shaders with tools such as RenderDoc or other industry standard systems

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we  put players first . That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security. 

• (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $206,700.00 - $289,000.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.