Lead VFX Artist

CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Lead VFX Artist to join our studio in Boston to work on Cyberpunk 2, the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 and the next major video game in the Cyberpunk franchise. This candidate will bring their years of expertise, stellar leadership skills, meticulous attention to detail, and passion for creating world class assets to help drive the next generation of high fidelity VFX in games.

Responsibilities:

• Manage a team of high performing VFX artists.
• Create high-quality, real-time visual effects: explosions, fire, smoke, clouds, weapons FX, debris, and weather elements.
• Mentor VFX artists, fostering a culture of creativity, trust, and technical excellence.
• Collaborate across multiple disciplines to support gameplay, cinematics, and environments with best-in-class VFX.
• Drive innovation and research new workflows, tools, and techniques to push the boundaries of real-time VFX.
• Ensure VFX content produced by the team is performant and within technical budgets.
• Write and prepare briefs for outsourced work, provide feedback, and maintain quality standards.
• Partner with Directors and Production to strategically plan and estimate work, ensuring alignment with project goals and timelines.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in the gaming industry, with a focus on real-time VFX creation.
• Proven leadership experience, with a track record of mentoring and developing talent.
• Expertise in both real-time and baked simulations.
  Strong knowledge of VFX tools and pipelines (Houdini, Max, Maya, etc.).
• Solid understanding of PBR concepts, real-time rendering techniques, shaders, and lighting.
• Deep knowledge of performance and optimization for real-time VFX.
• Experience working independently to identify, own, and deliver high-impact work.
• Strong knowledge of SideFX Houdini
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills.
• A strong portfolio that demonstrates mastery in VFX creation for games.