3D Asset Engineer

Description

Do you love creating accurate and compelling real-time 3D assets from reference?

Are you an artist who can generate and optimize 3D models for real-time engines, and use code to streamline or expand the asset pipeline?

If so, we're looking for someone like you to join our team at APL.

We are seeking a Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer with technical art skills to help us create modern training systems, compelling visual tools, and real-time content pipelines for critical national security challenges. You'll join a multidisciplinary team that creates interactive training and visualization tools grounded in real-world form, function, and engineering detail. In this role, you'll pair production-art judgment with the technical curiosity to build tools, write shaders, and solve pipeline problems.

As a Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer...

• Your primary responsibility will be to create, optimize, and integrate real-time 3D assets, materials, and scenes for training systems, engineering visualizations, interactive tools, and mission-focused applications.
• You will build production-ready models, textures, and materials from reference photos, CAD, 3D scans, photogrammetry, engineering drawings, and other source material, with an emphasis on equipment, environments, facilities, and other hard-surface assets.
• You will optimize 3D assets for real-time performance, including polycount, draw calls, texture memory, levels of detail, colliders, materials, and scene organization.
• You will develop and maintain source-to-engine asset pipelines that help artists and engineers move content from reference material and 3D tools into Unity, Unreal, or other real-time engines.
• You will create tools, scripts, shaders, import/export workflows, and asset-processing utilities that streamline real-time content production.
• You will work with artists, engineers, and software developers to troubleshoot asset, rendering, shader, lighting, source control, and build issues across production pipelines.
• You will help shape practical technical art standards for reference gathering, asset quality, visual accuracy, optimization, source control, and repeatable workflows.

Qualifications

• Have a bachelor's degree in game art, technical art, digital art, computer graphics, game development, engineering, architecture, a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Have 3+ years of professional experience creating real-time 3D art for games, AR/VR, training systems, engineering visualization, simulation, or other interactive applications.
• Have a portfolio, demo reel, or project examples that show finished 3D models, textures, materials, or scenes based on real-world source material.
• Have experience with 3D content tools and real-time engine workflows, such as Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Substance tools, Unity, Unreal Engine, proprietary game engines, or similar tools.
• Have used scripting, shader authoring, or programming to solve technical art problems, streamline workflows, improve materials, process assets, or support real-time content production.
• Are able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

You ll go above and beyond our minimum requirements if you...

• Have experience as a technical artist, environment artist, hard-surface artist, material artist, real-time 3D artist, or in a related capacity on shipped games, AAA productions, training systems, simulations, or real-time visualization products.
• Have experience writing shaders, tools, plugins, asset processors, or pipeline automation with HLSL, Slang, C++, C#, Python, Java, or similar languages.
• Have experience with or interest in, 3D reconstruction, scan cleanup, CAD conversion, computer vision, image processing, procedural workflows, or real-world asset capture.
• Have experience optimizing meshes, textures, materials, shaders, lighting, memory use, draw calls, load times, or frame rate for real-time applications.
• Have experience with Unity, Unreal Engine, Git, Git Lab, PlasticSCM, or source-controlled art and build pipelines in a production environment.

About Us

Why Work at APL?

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) brings world-class expertise to our nation s most critical defense, security, space and science challenges. While we are dedicated to solving complex challenges and pioneering new technologies, what makes us truly outstanding is our culture. We offer a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere where you can bring your authentic self to work, continue to grow, and build strong connections with inspiring teammates.

At APL, we celebrate our differences of perspectives and encourage creativity and bold, new ideas. Our employees enjoy generous benefits, including a robust education assistance program, unparalleled…