Riots Technical Artists focus on supporting artists with industry-leading tools, systems, & techniques to enable them to realize their work in-game. You will work with artists across all departments from modeling to lighting to ensure all assets work within the scope of the technical pipeline requirements. Working closely with each artistic department, you will standardize & improve development processes for the production of in game assets, materials, shaders, & scalable development pipelines.

The Senior Rendering Technical Artist on League of Legends is a subject matter expert that is accountable for driving progress in regards to lighting, shading, & materials used by the League Engine, in both the in-game & around-game space. You will collaborate with the rendering vision holder & art teams to set targets for this progress. You will be authoring shaders that push the boundaries of look development within League, & advocate for new rendering features on behalf of your team that would benefit from them. You will also be hands-on & directly support content & tools teams as a Shader expert.

Responsibilities:

• Author industry-defining lighting, shaders, & materials to push the quality of Leagues broad catalogue of characters, VFX, & other artistic crafts
• Co-opt a future-facing plan for material & shader workflows, tools, & engine improvements to support creative goals from the Art & Product teams
• Work with art teams to evaluate current rendering technology & craft a plan to evolve existing systems
• Collaborate with tools & rendering teams on enhancements to our materials, shaders tools, & rendering workflows
• Be a bridge between Art & Engineering in the realm of materials & shaders to help both disciplines communicate effectively
• Create & consolidate documentation for using our materials & shader systems, & build discipline-wide habits to keep them up to date
• Promote performance optimization for art assets by creating clear standards & building a maintainable process for reviewing & optimizing game assets

Required Qualifications: 

• 8+ years of professional experience as a graphics or rendering technical artist in games or related industries
• Extensive experience in material development & shader writing using HLSL, CG, or other real-time shading languages
• A collaborative attitude towards bridging the gap between artistic goals & technical considerations with Art & Engineering
• A comprehensive understanding of modern lighting theory, including physically based rendering & other associated technologies & techniques used in modern consumer-grade game engines such as Unreal or Unity
• An ability to translate artistic requirements into functional & performant Materials & Shaders to be used at runtime
• Demonstrable experience authoring shaders & materials for 2D surfaces such as UI panels & motion graphics
• Experience profiling & optimizing performance of Shaders with tools such as RenderDoc or other industry standard systems

Desired Qualifications:

• A thorough understanding of 3D math used in real-time rendering
• Experience with look dev, color theory, camera lenses, & lighting direction
• Expertise in content creation & tool development in DCC tools, especially Maya, Photoshop, 3DCoat, Marmoset, Substance Designer & Painter
• Knowledge of Python to write scripts & tools
• Experience in sculpting, modeling, rigging & animation & understanding of the related workflows

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, & decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, & your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy & 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 & other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, & life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, & children, & 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 & experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether youre working directly on a new player-facing experience or youre supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, were 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, were looking forward to your application.

Its our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants & members of Riot Games Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped & disabled Rioters & 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 & state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state & 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, & 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 & sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters & third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, & networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players & other Rioters

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