Electronic Arts

Founded in 2010 by the original creators of the Call of Duty Franchise, Respawn was created with the philosophy that when talented people have creative freedom, they’ll make extraordinary games that achieve the unexpected. From our roots as an indie studio to joining the expansive roster of studios at Electronic Arts, this remains our guiding principle. We truly love what we do and want to share our passion with players worldwide. Our shipped titles include critically acclaimed multi-platform games Apex Legends, Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Star Wars™ Jedi: Fallen Order and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Join us for the opportunity to create groundbreaking games with some of the best developer talent in the industry. You can learn more about our studio and values at respawn.com/studio. 

This is a 12-month Temporary Full-Time opportunity working Hybrid in Los Angeles or Vancouver.

We're looking for a passionate Senior Cinematic Lighter who will embrace our philosophy and work with design leadership, artists, code, and other departments to help us create an incredible experience for our players. You will report to the Lighting Director.

Responsibilities:

• You will author lighting for real-time, in-game, cinematic sequences in UE5, supporting story, mood, composition, readability, continuity, and emotional storytelling, all to an exceptionally high standard.
• You will work in Sequencer to light scenes, maintain shot-to-shot continuity, and collaborate with other departments to produce visually stunning, technically complex, and emotionally resonant cinematics.
• You will partner closely with Level Lighting Artists to maintain a cohesive look and feel between gameplay spaces and cinematics.
• You will translate art direction, narrative needs, previs, and gameplay context into industry leading real-time cinematography.
• You will author and tune lighting using MegaLights and Lumen, balancing light counts and shadow quality against runtime constraints.
• You will align on shared standards: exposure ranges, lighting ratios, color palette, grade guidelines, fog/volumetric baselines, and readability rules, to maintain a consistent look.
• You will ensure cinematic shot lighting respects contextual and performance constraints and avoids jarring transitions in and out of cutscenes.
• You will profile and optimize lighting, atmospherics, and post effects to support a 60 FPS target on supported platforms.
• You will diagnose and resolve production lighting issues; exposure shifts, reflection artifacts, shadow noise/instability, volumetric artifacts, etc., and coordinate with Tech Art/Engineering when deeper rendering/pipeline work is required.
• You will produce cinematic lighting at an extremely high visual bar for real-time cinematics, through strong craft, cinematographic expertise, and collaboration
• You will provide guidance and mentorship via reviews, conversations, and practical lighting notes to help keep the cinematic lighting standard at an exceptional quality level.
• You will improve workflows where helpful: give user feedback/help to develop our custom tools, provide input on workflow best practices, as well as write documentation.
• You will contribute to level lighting tasks if required.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years professional experience in real-time game lighting, including cinematic or narrative lighting responsibilities.
• Shipped at least one AAA title in a senior lighting-focused role (strong preference for multiple shipped titles, in a senior cinematic lighting role).
• Strong production experience lighting in Unreal Engine 5.
• Demonstrated experience lighting real-time cinematics with Sequencer in UE5, or similar/equivalent tools, with the ability to maintain shot continuity.
• Strong working knowledge of Lumen lighting workflows and how to keep results stable and performant in motion.
• MegaLights experience (or equivalent dense dynamic lighting experience with strong performance discipline), with the ability to balance light counts, shadow quality, and runtime cost.
• Proven ability to light for a 60 FPS target, using profiling, iteration, and well considered tradeoffs while preserving artistic intent.
• Advanced understanding of cinematography, including camera and lighting language (blocking, lensing intent, exposure control, continuity, mood, and visual storytelling).
• Advanced understanding of photographic techniques and methods, such as practical lighting approaches, lighting ratios, motivated lighting, key/fill/rim strategies, and using real-world reference to create believable results.
• Excellent art fundamentals: composition, mood, color theory, exposure, and cinematic lighting principles.
• A portfolio/reel featuring real-time UE lighting work (cinematic shots strongly preferred) with clear attribution of responsibilities and a brief explanation of approach.
• Mentorship/review leadership experience appropriate for a senior role that improves team output and consistency.
• Bachelor's Degree in the Arts is a bonus, but not a requirement.