Development Technical Director - Expression of Interest

Position: Look Development Technical Director - Expression of Interest
Overview
Look Development Technical Director - Expression of Interest

Apply Now Apply Later  Job     Location  Vancouver, Canada  Business  Industrial Light & Magic  Date posted  Oct. 08, 2025

Job 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.

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.

Look Dev Technical Directors are responsible for producing high-quality look dev and shading for our CG Assets, needing only initial direction and guidance from their Supervisors. Have the flexibility of moving into lighting shot production, producing high end lighting during show production.

What You'll Do

Scrutinize the colours and directions of all light sources in the real-world scene and replicates them in CG

Design and create the lighting and the look of computer generated objects and scenes

Responsible for the final CG scene assembly, lighting and rendering of very complex shots

Works closely with Lighting Supervisors and CG Supervisors to determine the best approach to solving CG challenges and developing the final look

Creates lighting set ups and/or works within current set ups

Creates efficient rendering setups in order to optimise render farm usage

Stays on schedule and meets set deadlines while maintaining the highest level of work quality

Ensures there is ongoing communication with Production and Leads regarding schedules and deadlines

Helps mentor Junior Artists within the Lighting/Look Dev team

Create & maintain simple materials using the provided shading templates

Create & maintain custom hero materials and shading networks when necessary

Deep understanding of real world materials

Understanding of energy conservation principles

Deep understanding of Physically based rendering and shader models

Ability to work and communicate with texture and groom artists to get the best possible results

Ability to build and maintain complex shading networks with artist usability and user-interface support in mind

What We're Looking For

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Graphics or equivalent or previous professional experience in a related field

Experience with real-world lighting and photography

Demonstrable advanced Lighting and Rendering experience within a VFX environment

Previous experience performing shot Look Dev tasks

Exhibits excellent listening and communication skills, able to receive direction and criticism

Has a broad understanding of modern shading models

Has an in-depth understanding of P  (physically based rendering)

Demonstrates the ability to help and teach more junior-level artists

Demonstrates the ability to prioritise 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 collaboratively within a team environment

Can write plug-ins, set-up sequences, debug simulations and write set up and Renderman surface shaders with proficiency

Demonstrates the ability to work with minimal supervision to complete a shot

A thorough understanding of the vfx pipeline from modelling through animation, texturing, rendering and compositing

Ability to pick-up new techniques and the ability to learn new software quickly and easily

Knowledge of Katana is essential, Maya and Zeno beneficial

A good understanding of texturing and lighting

Knowledge of python and/or MEL scripting is essential

Strong interest in shading technologies

At ease with Linux based operating systems

Good understanding of…