Principal Lighting Artist
About this role
OUR STUDIO
At Housemarque, we believe gameplay always comes first. With technical excellence and compelling narrative, spiced with our trademark neon flair and top-notch audiovisual feedback, we want our players to always feel actively engaged with the worlds we have created for them.
Our award-winning game Returnal, released on PS5 in 2021, and Saros, released in 2026, embrace all these qualities. THIS is our DNA!
We value Nordic work-life balance by growing sustainably and ensuring our employees have the time and means to develop personally and professionally during work time.
We were established in 1995 with strong roots in the Finnish demoscene. In June 2021 we joined the PlayStation Studios, after years of partnership.
If you wish to join us for our next journey, apply today!
Housemarque is looking for a talented Principal Lighting Artist to join our team!
THE JOB
As a Principal Lighting Artist, you will operate in a Lighting Lead capacity, working closely with the Art Director and Technical Art Director to guide the lighting direction of the project and support the lighting team.
You will bring deep expertise in real-time lighting and strong leadership capability, helping to drive quality, define workflows, and mentor others. While you may not have held a formal Lead title previously, you are expected to step into a leadership role and grow into full team ownership over time.
If you are ready to take the next step into leadership while continuing to push high-end lighting quality, we’d love to hear from you!
What will your day-to-day look like?
- Work with the Art Director and Technical Art Director to plan and scope lighting needs for each project.
- Define and maintain best practices and workflows for real-time lighting.
- Mentor and support lighting team members, helping elevate overall quality.
- Establish artistic and technical lighting targets.
- Balance leadership responsibilities with hands-on lighting work.
- Review lighting work and provide feedback.
- Ensure consistency in lighting style and quality across the project.
- Collaborate with other departments to meet visual and technical goals.
- Contribute to discussions with Graphics Programmers on lighting features.
- Support task planning and prioritization with Production.
- Troubleshoot lighting and performance issues.
- Help foster a positive and collaborative team environment.
What will help you to be successful in this role?
- Shipped at least one PC/Console title in a Senior or Principal Lighting role.
- 7–10 years of experience in AAA game development.
- Strong expertise in real-time lighting and PBR workflows.
- Experience mentoring or guiding other artists (formally or informally).
- Good understanding of lighting pipelines and production workflows.
- Ability to balance artistic quality with performance constraints.
- Strong artistic eye for lighting, color, and composition.
- Experience collaborating across disciplines.
- Familiarity with version control systems like Perforce.
- Experience with project management tools like Jira.
- Fluent written and verbal English skills.
- A genuine passion for video games.
Bonus skills
- Experience with Unreal Engine or a proprietary AAA engine.
- Experience with ray tracing or global illumination systems.
- Background in cinematography or photography.
This is a permanent, full-time position based in Helsinki, Finland.
We will start interviewing promising candidates immediately so please apply as soon as possible.
Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.
Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Housemarque is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to a culture of inclusion and mutual respect for all employees from every walk of life, reflecting the community we make games for. We welcome and encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race and ethnicity, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnerships. We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity.
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