Senior Shader Technical Artist

Posted An Hour Ago
Be an Early Applicant
San Mateo, CA, USA
Hybrid
113K-165K Annually
Senior level
Gaming • Information Technology • Mobile • Software • Esports
2K develops and publishes interactive entertainment for video game consoles, personal computers, and mobile devices.
The Role
Develop and optimize shaders, master materials, and technical art pipelines in Unreal Engine. Establish shader standards, build validation tools, profile performance, resolve content pipeline issues, and create reusable documentation and best practices. Collaborate across art, engineering, design, animation, and lighting teams to solve production challenges and deliver visually rich experiences across console, PC, and mobile platforms.
Summary Generated by Built In

WE ARE GAME MAKERS

Who We Are:

We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games.  We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better.

What We Need:

We’re seeking a Senior Shader Technical Artist to leverage their technical skills and artistic understanding to help develop and maintain a strong shader pipeline that will serve teams across multiple disciplines. Your passion, knowledge, and experience will be integral to the look and style of a new generation of player-driven experiences, stemming from your ability to create high-quality shaders and technology that bring life to the worlds we build.

What You'll Do:

  • Utilize extensive experience in Unreal Engine to meticulously craft and optimize shader/master materials using Unreal Engine’s node-based shader graph and HLSL/GLSL/CG shader code, ensuring they are built cleanly and efficiently for seamless integration and user-friendly utilization by the materials team.
  • Collaborate with development teams to establish and uphold artistic and technical shader standards, pushing the boundaries of real-time rendering while adhering to performance constraints.
  • Drive the development of innovative approaches to address complex technical and creative challenges, participating in the creation of shaders, shading validation tools, and defining shading standards.
  • Provide technical support in identifying and resolving inefficient content pipelines, conducting performance profiling, and optimizing shaders to enhance overall visual fidelity and maintain desired frame rates.
  • Demonstrate a strong sense of ownership and autonomy in task execution, producing high-quality work with minimal oversight, and actively seeking opportunities to enhance pipeline efficiency and visual quality.
  • Create documentation, examples, and reusable best practices for distributed development teams, establishing and maintaining practical standards for assets, materials, textures, meshes, LODs, collision, naming, and project organization.
  • Work with Art, Engineering, Design, Animation, Lighting, and other disciplines to solve cross-discipline production problems.
  • Evaluate workflows and identify technical risks or production bottlenecks before they become larger problems.

What Will Make You a Great Fit:

  • 7+ years of experience or at least one shipped title in a Technical Art role, with proficiency in creating stylized and PBR shaders using node-based shader editors, tiled layered material systems, shader networks, procedural texturing, and HLSL code.
  • Strong understanding of the technical foundations behind visually stunning textures and shaders in a physically-based rendering pipeline.
  • Ability to communicate and collaborate across disciplines, sharing ideas and articulating visions.
  • Familiarity with all the tools, techniques, and asset creation pipelines: UE5, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Photoshop, modeling, baking, and texturing.

Bonus:

  • Experience in Unreal Engine’s node-based shader graph.
  • Strong understanding of console, PC, and mobile platforms, and how to scale shaders to optimize for each.

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $112,700 and $164,860 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 and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.
Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefi ts at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefi ts; and reimbursements for fi tness-related expenses. Ontario only: The use of Artifi cial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.

#LI-Onsite
#LI-Hybrid

Skills Required

  • 7+ years of experience in a Technical Art role or at least one shipped title
  • Experience creating stylized and PBR shaders using node-based shader editors
  • Experience with tiled layered material systems and shader networks
  • Experience with procedural texturing and HLSL code
  • Strong understanding of textures and shaders in a physically based rendering pipeline
  • Ability to communicate and collaborate across disciplines
  • Familiarity with UE5, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Photoshop, modeling, baking, and texturing
  • Experience with Unreal Engine node-based shader graph
  • Understanding of console, PC, and mobile platforms and shader optimization for each

What the Team is Saying

2K Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is widely characterized as robust, with medical, dental, vision, mental-health support, and wellness programs frequently highlighted.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off, sick time, holidays, and a companywide year‑end break are emphasized, with some roles noting discretionary time off and flexible/hybrid work.
  • Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave, fertility and family‑planning resources, and childcare support are repeatedly described as part of the package.

2K Insights

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The Company
HQ: Novato, CA
4,200 Employees
Year Founded: 2005

What We Do

2K is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, 31st Union, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment. Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, The Darkness, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM. At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role. If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply!

Why Work With Us

We pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We push ourselves creatively to do the best work of our careers. We’re direct, open, and you’ll probably meet some new best friends – along with their dogs – sitting nearby. In short, it’s kinda awesome.

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2K Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

We are a blend of onsite, hybrid, and remote roles. Please refer to individual job descriptions for more details on location.

Typical time on-site: Flexible
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2K Sports Lab
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2K Dublin
Gearbox Studio Frisco
Cat Daddy Games
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HB Studios
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Cloud Chamber Montréal
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Gearbox Studio Québec
31st Union
2K Seattle
Firaxis Games Sparks
2K Valencia
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