Lighting Specialist (Contract)

Dreamscape Learn, a leading pioneer in the realm of immersive XR educational products, is seeking a Lighting Specialist to join our production team. This role is ideal for a technically skilled and creative individual who can design and implement dynamic lighting setups that enhance the visual fidelity, atmosphere, and storytelling of our virtual experiences on mobile ARM/Snapdragon based devices.

The Lighting Specialist will work closely with the art, design, and engineering teams to ensure that lighting is both visually compelling and optimized for performance across various platforms with a strong emphasis on mobile real-time rendering.

This is a 1099 contract role.

Role and Responsibilities

• Lighting Design & Implementation: Develop, place, and fine-tune lighting solutions to enhance the mood, depth, and realism of virtual environments within Unity targeted at ARM/Snapdragon based devices.
• Optimization & Performance Tuning: Ensure lighting effects are optimized for real-time performance while maintaining high visual quality, adapting techniques on mobile devices.
• Technical Art Collaboration: Work closely with the art and engineering teams to develop and integrate lighting solutions that support storytelling and gameplay needs.
• Shader & Material Adjustments: Utilize and modify materials, shaders, and post-processing effects to achieve cohesive and immersive lighting effects.
• Color & Atmosphere Control: Manage color grading, exposure, and volumetric effects to achieve desired aesthetic goals across diverse learning environments.
• Lighting Pipeline Development: Establish and refine workflows, tools, and best practices to streamline the lighting production process.
• Troubleshooting & Debugging: Identify and resolve technical issues related to real-time lighting, shadows, and rendering performance.
• Cross-Disciplinary Communication: Collaborate with artists, designers, and programmers to translate creative direction into practical and effective lighting setups.

• 3 years of experience in real-time lighting for games, virtual reality, or other interactive media on mobile platforms.
• Strong proficiency in Unity's lighting system, including baked and real-time lighting, light probes, shadowing techniques, and post-processing.
• Hands-on experience with mobile VR platforms (e.g., Quest) and demonstrated ability to establish efficient workflows that scale content from mobile to PC—bonus points if you've established standardized workflows in a fast-moving startup environment.
• Deep understanding of PBR workflows, HDR lighting, volumetric effects, and physically-based rendering techniques.
• Experience in color theory, cinematography, and lighting composition to enhance mood and storytelling.
• Knowledge of optimization techniques for lighting and rendering, ensuring performance across multiple device platforms.
• Proficiency in industry-standard software such as Maya, Blender, Substance Painter, Photoshop, and post-processing tools.
• Familiarity with shader creation (Shader Graph, HLSL) and scripting (C# or Python) for procedural lighting effects.
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills in lighting-related technical issues.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience creating assets optimized for both high-end and low-end devices, ensuring performance and visual quality across various platforms.  
• Experience with VR lighting challenges and real-time global illumination techniques.
• Knowledge of ray tracing and advanced lighting models.
• Understanding of cinematic lighting for cutscenes and in-game storytelling.
• Experience working in an EdTech or learning-focused environment.

Monthly rate: $8,500-$10,800 (DOE)

Dreamscape Learn is firmly committed to cultivating an inclusive and diverse workplace, and as an equal opportunity employer, we encourage applications from all eligible candidates.

Salary : $8,500 - $10,800