Senior Modeler

ILM (Australia) Pty. Ltd. is hiring a Senior Modeler at their Sydney studio in Moore Park, New South Wales. This role sits within ILM’s VFX pipeline, where the focus is on delivering production-ready digital assets including creatures, characters, vehicles, props, and environments for feature film production. It suits an experienced modeler who moves comfortably between organic sculpting and hard surface work and has logged real time inside a VFX or feature animation studio.

About the Role

The Senior Modeler works across ILM’s Sydney department, contributing assets to the same feature film pipeline that has shaped some of the most recognisable visual effects in cinema. Day to day, this means owning complex assets from initial build through to final optimisation, attending show reviews, and working closely with look development, rigging, and other departments to land the intended design. The role is hybrid, with a minimum of two days on-site per week at the Moore Park studio.

Key Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of complex assets including creatures, characters, vehicles, props, and environments with minimal supervision across the VFX pipeline.
• Build production-ready models that are clean, topologically efficient, and fully optimised for downstream departments including rigging and rendering.
• Work with both organic ZBrush sculpting and hard surface Maya modeling techniques depending on the requirements of each asset.
• Provide accurate time estimates, communicate progress proactively, and deliver high quality work to schedule within a structured feature film production environment.
• Participate actively in show reviews and implement notes efficiently, translating director and supervisor feedback into tangible model revisions.
• Collaborate with look development, rigging, and effects artists to ensure assets meet the technical and creative requirements of each production.

What You Bring

• A minimum of five to eight or more years of professional modeling experience inside a VFX pipeline or feature animation studio.
• Advanced proficiency in Maya and ZBrush, with the ability to adapt quickly to proprietary tools and software.
• A portfolio, showreel, or ArtStation page demonstrating high quality asset work across a range of asset types and production contexts.
• Proven ability to manage multiple assets simultaneously and meet deadlines in a production environment without close supervision.

Why This Role

ILM has created visual effects for over 325 feature films and contributed to seven of the top ten worldwide box office films of all time, making it one of the few studios where a Senior Modeler’s work consistently reaches a global audience at scale. The Sydney studio operates as a full production facility integrated into ILM’s worldwide pipeline, offering genuine access to large-scale feature film projects rather than supplementary work.

Apply now for the Senior Modeler position at ILM (Australia) Pty. Ltd. and submit your portfolio or showreel alongside your application.