Creative Technologist

Hovercraft

16h•$120,000 - $140,000•Remote

About The Position

Hovercraft is a dynamic and innovative creative design firm that partners with brands to craft compelling experiences through design, strategy, and technology. We specialize in creating standout visuals, interactive digital content, and impactful branding solutions that push the boundaries of creativity. We're looking for a Creative Technologist to join our dev team and help push the studio's work forward across a growing range of mediums. This is a hands-on software development role, but also so much more than that. You'll work closely with our designers, producers, and tech team to build interactive experiences, real-time graphics systems, web projects, video games, and physical installations. You'll prototype, develop, deliver, and support our custom-built technology for these projects. The tech team’s work is centered around software but includes hardware integration, travel, client-facing interactions, and being embedded in the larger creative and problem-solving process.

Requirements

5+ years of professional experience in a creative technology, interactive development, or similar role; agency, studio, or production company experience is strongly preferred
A portfolio that demonstrates a range of work across mediums
Bachelor's degree in CS, Interactive Media, Design, or a related field (or equivalent hands-on experience)
Strong generative / creative coding background - WebGL, Three.js, react-three-fiber, GLSL, or comparable real-time graphics experience
Experience with TouchDesigner for interactive systems, hardware integration, and high-performance graphics
Proficiency in JavaScript/TypeScript and modern web development (React or similar frameworks)
Solid backend fundamentals and comfort with REST APIs, content management systems, and cloud services for data-driven applications
Game development experience via WebGL, Unity, Unreal, or similar
Media file conversion, optimization, and delivery experience - you understand the formats and constraints of working with a wide variety of media assets (image/video/audio/3d) in interactive contexts
Source control and deployment fluency: Git, GitHub, basic cloud/server workflows
A solid grasp of software engineering practices - you think about stability, edge cases, version control, and QA
A commitment to staying current with modern development tools and workflows, including build tools, AI-assisted coding & agents, and automation
Working knowledge of current AI tools for creative pipelines: Computer vision, generative media, etc.
Experience with Windows scripting, tooling, and troubleshooting, as most of our projects run on Windows PCs
Experience with 3D tools (Blender, Cinema4D, Maya) or motion design (After Effects, Cavalry)
Familiarity with physical computing: depth cameras, LIDAR, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, custom electronics, RFID, sensor arrays, computer vision, and novel HCI technologies
Experience with physical lighting systems - DMX/ArtNet/etc., spatial mapping, electrical systems & power distribution
Familiarity with AV systems integration and industry standards (projectors, LED walls, sound systems, media servers, etc.)
Electrical engineering or fabrication fundamentals
AR/VR/XR or spatial computing project experience
Strong design and craft sensibilities; understands what “Hovercraft quality” means, both visually and technically.
Takes initiative, makes decisions autonomously, estimates and manages work effectively, and advocates for timelines, testing, and quality.
Proactively shares progress, flags blockers early, keeps stakeholders informed, and works effectively within cross-functional teams and production pipelines.
Maintains a positive, solutions-oriented attitude while navigating changing scope, creative direction, technical constraints, and tight deadlines across multiple projects.
Demonstrates a genuine passion for learning, experimentation, R&D, prototyping, and exploring new tools and creative technologies.

Nice To Haves

Unreal Engine / Notch - real-time 3D, XR production, high-resolution environments
Media server experience (Disguise, Pixera, or similar)
Deeper electrical & mechanical engineering expertise
Small-scale fabrication and material prototyping skills

Responsibilities

Build and maintain software systems across client projects and internal tooling as an active contributor on multi-disciplinary project teams.
Develop rapid prototypes for concept validation, client pitches, and discovery.
Collaborate with designers and animators to bring visual concepts to life with code, which includes user interfaces, animation, generative graphics, and multi-device interactive systems.
Design resilient application architectures that withstand heavy use and scrutiny.
Participate in scoping and technical planning for new projects, contributing to architecture decisions and timeline estimates.
Help shape visitor experiences alongside the design team—research new approaches, raise concerns, and help non-technical stakeholders understand what's possible with technology and related UX patterns.
Build tools, documentation, and efficiencies for the tech team (and elsewhere in the organization).
Communicate often and clearly with internal teams, partner agencies, and clients via presentations, diagrams & documentation, and creative brainstorming sessions.
Support installations on-site when projects require it. This includes travel and client-facing interactions, so comfort in those settings is a must.
Plan and communicate the needs of a project to the team; for example, SAAS subscriptions & pricing, venue requirements for installations (power/internet), and fabrication integration specifics when working with build partners.