Lead Lighting Technical Director

Job Description

This posting is an opportunity to submit your resume for future consideration; this is not a role that is open at this time. We anticipate this role may be open in the future, but we are not actively hiring for the position. If you would like to be considered for this potential role, please submit your resume. If the role becomes available, you may receive an email or call from a recruiter.

Position Summary

This role is considered Hybrid, which means the employee will work 2-3 days onsite at a Company designated location and occasionally from home.

Industrial Light & Magic is looking for a Lead Lighting Technical Director (TD) to join our extraordinary team! The Lead Lighting TD is responsible for producing high-quality lighting and rendering complex shots for high-end photo-realistic visual effects films and feature animations. They need only initial direction and mentorship from their Supervisors, and their primary task is to support the team and the show production to achieve the highest quality work.

We are looking for a creative who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, team-oriented mentality and passion for innovative filmmaking that define ILM!

What You'll Do
Assist your Supervisors and Production with identifying and setting up key shots, as well as providing feedback and support to artists
For shows without Lighting Supervision, assist CG Supervisors with lighting shot assignments
Identify and match the colour and directions of all light sources in the real-world scene for replication in CG
Design and build the lighting and look of computer generated objects and scenes
Responsible for the final CG scene assembly, lighting and rendering of very complex shots
Work closely with Lighting and CG Supervisors to determine the best approach to solving technical challenges and developing the final look
Create light rigs as well as work within established set ups
Create efficient rendering set-ups in order to optimize render farm output
Assist Lighting Artists with troubleshooting render noise, artifacts and other pipeline issues
Stay on schedule and meet deadlines, maintaining the highest level of work quality, while ensuring consistent communication with Production and the Lighting team
Help mentor Artists within the Lighting and Look Development teams

What We're Looking For

Education / Experience:
7+ years relevant professional VFX experience, with experience in mentoring team members, or previous leadership experience
A diploma in computer graphics, fine arts, design, photography or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience
Experience of real-world lighting and photography
Advanced Lighting and Rendering experience within a VFX environment, with previous experience performing Look Development tasks

Required Skills / Proficiencies:
Excellent listening and interpersonal skills, able to receive direction and feedback
Comfortable giving and receiving feedback in a constructive and uplifting manner
Demonstrates an excellent aesthetic eye, anticipates potential problems and finds creative solutions to achieve the desired look
Highly capable in mentoring junior artists
Ability to prioritize tasks, manages time very well, provides everyone with accurate time estimates on shot task completion
Demonstrates excellent presentation/communication skills in dailies/shot review by clearly and briefly outlining what has been accomplished and what should be addressed next in a shot
Demonstrates the ability to work well within a team environment with minimal direction
Capable of working with minimal supervision to complete key shots
Ability to pick-up new techniques and learn new software quickly and easily

Technical Skills:
Excellent knowledge of Renderman and/or other unbiased rendering systems is critical
Experience with Katana is an advantage, Maya and/or Zeno helpful
Can write tools, develop Katana macros and templates, set-up sequences, debug scenes containing FX data and USD assets
A solid comprehension of lighting techniques and colour-space
Basic knowledge of physically plausible shading techniques, experience building shading networks is an advantage
A detailed understanding of the VFX pipeline from modeling through animation, texturing, FX, rendering and compositing.
Understanding of LUA and opScript is required, knowledge of python is a plus
A good understanding of Nuke or similar compositing package, including how to use layers and passes to tweak a shot after it has been rendered. Able to debug Nuke scripts and setup slapcomp templates
A strong understanding of Linux based operating systems

JoinILM

The hiring range for this position in Vancouver is C$122,400 to C$156,800 per year based on a 40-hour work week. The amount of hours scheduled per week may vary based on business needs. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other variable pay or benefits, may be offered dependent on the level and position offered.

This position is with ILM (Vancouver) Inc., which is part of a business we call Industrial Light & Magic.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-r1mxqv-3-142-195-132-42 in your application.