Senior Lighting Artist - Raven - Middleton, WI

Raven Software • Middleton, WI

1d • $82,240 - $152,160 • Onsite

About The Position

Raven Software is seeking a highly capable, motivated Senior Lighting Artist to play a key role on our team, partner across disciplines, and shape compelling lighting for real-time gameplay and cinematics. We are looking for a driven, trusted, and self-sufficient artist to own lighting tasks, solve technical and creative challenges, and deliver industry-leading lighting for the blockbuster Call of Duty franchise. Qualified candidates will be adaptable to evolving development needs, possess excellent communication skills, navigate the technical and creative challenges of real-time lighting development, and deliver environment and cinematic lighting at the scale, quality, and complexity expected of a AAA blockbuster franchise. They will partner with some of the most talented and passionate developers in the industry to contribute high-quality lighting and support project goals, elevating the quality and execution of lighting in our environments and cinematics. Above all, we are looking for an innovative and dedicated teammate to help tell our story. This role is based in our Middleton, WI office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

Requirements

• 8+ total years of Lighting experience in real-time game development or equivalent experience in film/television.
• Passionate and egoless attitude that welcomes feedback and enjoys a collaborative, iterative, fast-moving and adaptive workflow.
• Ability to quickly learn new software and adapt to proprietary tools.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to manage lighting tasks independently, take high-level direction, and follow through with strong execution.
• Expert experience with game development engines and lighting tools (Unreal, Unity, or equivalent proprietary engines).
• Strong experience with baked lighting, dynamic lighting, light probes, reflection probes, post-processing, color grading, and image adjustment tools.
• Strong understanding of PBR workflows, physically correct lighting solutions, color theory, post-processing techniques, and industry lighting trends.
• An inspiring reel demonstrating strong, realistic lighting, modern development workflows, and creative solutions to development challenges.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with the Call of Duty tools or other proprietary engines.
• Experience in a secondary area such as environments, animation, or VFX.
• Experience with basic scripting.
• Experience with procedural workflows and tools like Houdini.
• Experience with compositing.
• Familiarity with performance optimization for console and PC.
• Passion for the Call of Duty franchise.
• Strong traditional art foundation.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Lighting Lead, Art Director, and cross-discipline partners to bring life, mood, and visual clarity to gameplay and cinematics.
• Craft and implement compelling real-time lighting that supports gameplay needs and artistic goals with strong composition, tone, and color.
• Employ volumetrics, color grading, and image effects to achieve desired visual and narrative objectives.
• Meet and exceed visual and technical quality targets to deliver cutting-edge, AAA-worthy lighting.
• Own lighting development for environments, play spaces, and cinematics from first pass through final polish.
• Contribute to lighting R&D efforts, partnering with experts within and across disciplines to streamline tools and processes while championing best practices and strong visual quality.
• Research subject matter and visual references to provide authentic, grounded, and impactful lighting solutions.
• Take high-level direction and own day-to-day execution on lighting tasks.
• Partner with artists, designers, and programmers to be a trusted champion of performance, efficiency, and quality.
• Inspire and mentor others as a role model of initiative, accountability, and attitude.
• Foster a collaborative environment through open communication, constructive feedback, and a willingness to share knowledge and expertise.
• Hold a high bar for quality, execution, and accountability.
• Support Leads and Production by estimating tasks and achievable scope for milestone deliveries.
• Contribute creative and original ideas that elevate the quality of our environments and cinematics while improving our production processes.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others
• Relocation assistance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed