Senior VFX Artist – Lightspeed Studios

Job Position(s): Senior VFX Artist - Lightspeed Studios

NVIDIA’s Lightspeed Studios is hiring a Senior VFX Artist based in California, USA. This role sits within a studio dedicated to building next-generation tech demos and real-time experiences, where the Senior VFX Artist contributes directly to the tools, pipelines, and workflows that drive high-end visual content production. It’s a fit for a seasoned tools or pipeline engineer who has spent years inside VFX, animation, or game production environments and knows how to translate what artists actually need into software that works on deadline.

About the Role

Lightspeed Studios operates at the intersection of art and engineering, building advanced real-time experiences that showcase NVIDIA’s latest rendering technology. Day to day, the Senior VFX Artist on this team is writing Python tools, building DCC integrations, and improving how assets move through a real-time production pipeline. The work is hands-on and production-facing, with direct involvement from artists and engineers across every stage of development.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop Python and Qt/PySide desktop applications and DCC integrations that support real-time content production workflows.
• Build and maintain integrations across DCC applications including Maya, Houdini, Substance, Blender, and Photoshop within a VFX pipeline context.
• Develop production tools for real-time engines, with a primary focus on Unreal Engine content pipelines.
• Work directly with artists and technical artists to identify production bottlenecks and convert those into practical, well-architected software solutions.
• Improve asset pipeline systems covering source control, validation, metadata management, and publishing workflows.
• Research and apply agentic AI approaches to automate repetitive or multi-step production tasks within the studio’s content creation process.

What You Bring

• 8 or more years of professional experience in tools engineering, pipeline engineering, or technical art within games, VFX, animation, or real-time production.
• BS, MS, or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong Python development skills with a solid understanding of software architecture, API design, and debugging practices.
• Proven experience building desktop user interfaces with Qt, PySide, or PyQt frameworks.
• Background supporting AAA game development or similarly complex real-time production environments is a strong advantage.
• Experience applying machine learning or agentic AI to production automation or artist workflows will set your application apart.

Why This Role

NVIDIA’s Lightspeed Studios sits at the front edge of real-time rendering research, giving a Senior VFX Artist here direct access to technology and production problems that most studios won’t see for years. The team works across art and engineering in a way that’s rare, meaning your tools work gets used and iterated on by the people who need it most. The base salary range for this position is 184,000 USD to 287,500 USD, determined based on location and experience.

Apply now for the Senior VFX Artist role at NVIDIA Lightspeed Studios and bring your production pipeline experience to a team building what comes next in real-time content.