Aquent Talent is hiring: Environment Artist in Redmond

Overview

Senior VFX Artist with Unreal Engine expertise to oversee external partner-created VFX assets and support the environment art team with external partner management for an upcoming title. This on-site role focuses on ensuring partner studios deliver high-quality, optimized, and stylistically consistent visual effects that align with the client’s aesthetic. The candidate acts as the primary liaison between internal teams and external partners, ensuring smooth collaboration, feedback implementation, and pipeline efficiency.

The position may require engagement with external teams around the world and core hours that shift to accommodate partner availability. You will work alongside other artists responsible for concepting, building, updating, and polishing the game to keep content fresh and aligned with the vision, direction, calendar, and style.

Responsibilities

• Supervise Partner Studio Work: Provide creative and technical direction to external teams, ensuring real-time VFX and environment assets align with project visual and performance standards.
• Artistic & Technical Review: Offer detailed feedback, paint-overs, and guidance to maintain consistency with the established art direction.
• Pipeline & Documentation: Develop and maintain best practices, style guides, and technical documentation to support external teams.
• Integration & Optimization: Review, test, and refine partner-created assets in Unreal Engine (Niagara) to ensure they function within performance constraints.
• Collaboration & Communication: Serve as the bridge between internal and external teams, fostering clear communication and alignment on expectations.
• Quality Assurance & Final Polish: Ensure all partner-created assets are fully optimized, bug-free, and seamlessly integrated into the game world.

Experience & Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a VFX Artist in AAA game development, with strong external team oversight.
• Deep understanding of Unreal Engine’s Niagara VFX system and real-time rendering principles.
• Proven experience overseeing external partner teams, including feedback loops, quality control, and process alignment.
• Strong grasp of performance optimization, memory budgets, and LODs for real-time VFX across platforms.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and documentation skills to support external development success.

Ideal Candidate

• Experience on a sci-fi or first-person shooter (FPS) title.
• Familiarity with HLSL, shader development, and Blueprints for VFX.
• Experience developing and refining external development pipelines and vendor relations.

Compensation

The target hiring compensation range for this role is $36/hr - $40/hr. Compensation is based on factors including education, relevant work experience, certifications, and location.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world\'s biggest brands. Eligible talent get access to benefits such as subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on benefits is available.

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We value an inclusive environment where diverse backgrounds and perspectives are welcomed.