About the job Senior Unreal FX
Key Responsibilities
Create and develop high-quality FX elements and simulations using Unreal Engine.
Build and integrate real-time effects such as fire, smoke, explosions, dust, debris, atmospheric effects, fluids, and environmental phenomena.
Develop and optimise Niagara systems for cinematic and real-time applications.
Work with Unreal Engine's FX, materials, particles, and simulation workflows to achieve desired visual results.
Collaborate with FX, CG, Lighting, Environment, and Compositing artists to ensure seamless integration of effects.
Translate creative briefs and reference material into technically accurate and visually compelling FX.
Optimise FX assets and simulations while maintaining visual quality and performance.
Troubleshoot technical and artistic issues within Unreal Engine.
Follow established studio pipelines, naming conventions, versioning, and production workflows.
Take direction and feedback from Supervisors and Leads and implement changes efficiently.
Maintain a high level of quality, consistency, and attention to detail throughout production.
Required Skills & Experience
Strong working knowledge of Unreal Engine, particularly Niagara.
Understanding of FX principles including particles, dynamics, forces, timing, scale, and motion.
Strong understanding of Unreal Engine FX and simulation plugins, including Zibra and Fluid Flux, with hands-on knowledge of fluid, smoke, VDB, water, and mesh-based simulations, as well as their integration into real-time environment and cinematic production pipelines.
Experience creating procedural and real-time FX.
Good understanding of cinematic composition, scale, lighting, and visual storytelling.
Familiarity with shaders, materials, textures, and procedural workflows.
Ability to optimise real-time FX for performance without compromising visual quality.
Understanding of VFX production pipelines and asset management.
Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
Ability to work effectively within a collaborative production environment.
Strong attention to detail and a passion for high-quality visual effects.
Strong understanding of Unreal Engine rendering technologies, including Lumen and Path Tracing, with experience in real-time global illumination, reflections, lighting optimization, cinematic-quality rendering, and production-ready rendering workflows.
Good to Have
Experience with Houdini and Houdini-to-Unreal workflows.
Hands-on experience with Blender and Blender-to-Unreal Engine workflows.
Knowledge of Houdini Niagara integration and procedural FX workflows.
Experience with traditional FX simulations such as Pyro, RBD, FLIP, and POPs.
Familiarity with Blueprints and Unreal Engine scripting.
Knowledge of Python or other scripting/programming languages.
Experience working on feature films, episodic content, commercials, or AAA game cinematics.
Understanding of Unreal Engine rendering technologies such as Lumen and Nanite.
Experience with real-time VFX optimisation and profiling.