Senior Lighting Artist / Technical Director - Expression of Interest - ILM San Francisco

Job ID 10152857 Location San Francisco, California, United States Business Industrial Light & Magic Date posted Jun. 01, 2026

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Job Summary:

Position Summary

ILM’s Interactive team advances the studio’s legacy of innovation by developing original immersive experiences across virtual reality, augmented reality and location-based platforms. Known for blending best-in-class visuals, sound and narrative, the team has delivered award-winning projects such as What If…? – An Immersive Story, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series and the Oscar-winning CARNE y ARENA. Our work continues to push the boundaries of immersive entertainment and redefine how audiences engage with story.

We are seeking a Senior Lighting Artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, and passion for great storytelling that defines ILM.

The Senior Lighting Artist is responsible for bringing the best out of our environments and to combine artistic talent and technical ability. You would be working closely with our Department Supervisor, Lighting and production teams on the design and implementation of lighting setups and lighting pipelines.

What You’ll Do

Work with Art Directors, VFX Supervisors, Other Department Leads to define and direct Lighting tools and setups/rigs for environments, characters and interactive game assets
Work with Render Engineers to define and test the needed lighting toolset for the given project
Support the development of the project pipeline to the delivery platform which may include lightbaking and pre-rendered elements
Deep knowledge of lightmap baking, dynamic lighting tools, image based specular lighting, indirect light probes, post-process volumes and real-time rendering and raytracing
Partner with environment, character and VFX artists in the lighting design to achieve the desired targets for aesthetics and performance through material shader and geometry work
Work with level designers to animate via level blueprint or sequencer dynamic lighting or transitions
Actively participate in improving workflows, optimizations and best practices
Identify, triage, and fix bugs as required working with engineering and relevant departments
Take final project to a high degree of polish and optimization

What We’re Looking For

5+ years experience as a lighting TD/artist - in 3D game development or animation/vfx film studio
Strong aesthetic sense for lighting and color theory
Strong technical understanding of current real time lighting tool sets including atmospheric effects, post processing, color grading and HDR IBL workflows
Team player who can take direction and know what looks good and why
Experience with Unreal/Unity or equivalent real time platform: dynamic and baked lighting workflows: physically-based rendering and basic level blueprint scripting
Shaders: in-depth knowledge of real-time shader implementations,PBR pipelines, subsurface shaders, and limitations of shaders in VR
Materials: experienced in the development, authoring & organization of efficient materials via the UE4 material editor
Fluency in working in Windows, JIRA, Perforce or equivalent OS, workload and data management tools
Excellent communication, organization and problem-solving skills and self-motivated
Bonus points for:
- Strong traditional art, photography or film studies background
- Passion for playing and making games, experience or interest in VR and AR VFX production / pipeline experience
- Proficient with profiling tools in the examination & diagnosis of performance issues related to lighting
- Experience with one or more of the following: Maya, Unity, Substance Designer / Painter, Zbrush or Mudbox, Houdini, Mari, 3D StudioMax, Photoshop, Nuke
- Interest and capacity to work with proprietary toolsets
- A portfolio / reel submission - including a detailed breakdown of your work in each section - is required with all applications

JoinILM

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $134,300 to $171,800 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

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About Industrial Light & Magic:

Founded in 1975 by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, serving the motion picture, commercial production, and attraction industries. ILM has created visual effects for over 325 feature films and has played a key role in seven of the top 10 worldwide box-office hits of all time and has contributed to 25 of the top 50. ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, the company continues to break new ground in visual effects, VR, AR, and Immersive Cinema.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Lucasfilm Ent Co Ltd, LLC Payroll Svc, which is part of a business we call Industrial Light & Magic.

Lucasfilm Ent Co Ltd, LLC Payroll Svc is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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