Senior Technical Artist

A Bit About Us

Gamemode One is a self‑funded, values‑driven studio with roots in Minecraft and growing ambitions beyond. We care deeply about our people‑first culture that enables our best work.

We’re building a small, talent‑dense team for an ambitious physics‑based indie game in Unity; a chaotic sandbox adventure with strong moment-to-moment feel.

The Opportunity

As Senior Technical Artist, you’ll own VFX end-to-end on our indie game and the technical art foundations that make our visuals feel great in a physically simulated world.

We’re a small team building a technically complex physics‑based game in Unity. This role is hands‑on and deeply collaborative. You will design and implement stylized VFX, develop and evolve key shaders (graph and code), and build a modular library that helps the team ship quickly and consistently.

You’ll work with engineering, design, audio, and art to translate mechanics into readable, satisfying feedback. You’ll also partner closely with an Intermediate Technical Artist, supporting their growth through collaboration and mentorship.

What do we mean when we say ‘Senior’?

This role is listed at a Senior level. We know “senior” can mean different things across employers. For us, it means you have owned tech art and VFX work end-to-end in an engine— from implementation and cross-discipline iteration through debugging and final integration. You have made smart tradeoffs within production realities as well as performance and platform constraints.

At a Senior level, we also expect you have moved beyond one-off effects into building patterns other people can reliably use. You have helped establish consistent workflows for how VFX and shaders are authored and maintained, and you can leave behind lightweight documentation. You consistently communicate clearly across disciplines, surface risks early, and raise the quality bar by enabling others through collaboration and mentorship.

Within 1 Month you'll…

• Build relationships with your peers through 1:1 meetings, to understand collaboration across art, tech, design, audio, and production.


• Fully onboard to our workflows, tools, and version control, and establish a working cadence with the Intermediate Technical Artist.


• Audit the current state of VFX and shaders: what exists, what is missing, what needs work, and what will not scale towards release goals.


• Align on a clear VFX “definition of done” (readability, tunability, performance, and maintainability) and how effects will be reviewed and shipped.


• Pick 1–2 high-impact “signature” effects and begin hands-on work to set the quality bar and build deeper understanding of the project.


• Demonstrate cultural understanding and values alignment by leveraging inquisitiveness and courage while learning about the company.

Within 3 Months you'll…

• Establish a VFX style guide by shipping a representative set of effects (color, timing, scale, layering) and codifying the patterns for other artists to follow.


• Deliver a core set of moment-to-moment feedback VFX for key player and character actions, hooked into gameplay and tuned for clarity with design and audio.


• Start implementing environment VFX and supporting shader work that make the world feel alive, with reusable patterns across spaces.


• Identify and remove the top 1–2 pipeline pain points blocking iteration, backed by lightweight standards and living documentation (naming conventions, prefab rules, troubleshooting).


• Provide mentorship and craft direction to the Intermediate Technical Artist, clarifying ownership as responsibilities transition.

Within 6 Months you'll…

• Craft a baseline for a modular VFX library (reusable building blocks, consistent naming, and patterns that can be extended).


• Align with engineering on practical performance budgets for VFX and shaders across target platforms, and build the habit of profiling early.


• Own VFX end‑to‑end: authoring, implementation, iteration, and maintenance, with standards that keep effects stable, readable, and easy to tune.


• Partner with design and audio to improve feedback and accessibility across core player abilities and control schemes.


• Improve the broader art pipeline with targeted tooling and documentation that supports onboarding and reduces rework.

Within 12 Months you'll…

• Be a key partner in planning and risk management for visuals: surface constraints early, propose options, and help make pragmatic decisions that protect milestones.


• Expand the VFX library into a cohesive system: modular building blocks, consistent patterns, and documentation that speeds up future content.


• Iterate VFX and shaders based on player testing and feedback, balancing readability, delight, and accessibility.


• Ensure VFX and key shaders are stable and optimized per target platform for PC Early Access: consistent quality, reliable implementation, and performance that meets agreed budgets.


• Put in place a scalable tech art foundation for VFX and shaders: clear onboarding, consistent standards, and living docs that help the team build, tune, and ship effects independently.

Why our job descriptions look like this

Our job descriptions look different than the average, and that’s on purpose! We find the normal approach to be far too prescriptive. Defining explicit qualifications and requirements would be us defining how you should have acquired a certain skillset. What these generally achieve is intimidating those who don’t fit the mold to not apply. That’s not our style. In an effort to be inclusive, and clear, we take a more descriptive approach. Read through the opportunity, and the description of the work you’ll be doing. Decide for yourself if the work excites you, and is something that you are able to rise to the challenge of.

Benefits

• Unlimited paid time off, with a 2-week minimum


• Flexible hybrid schedule, with a focus on in-office


• Health Spending Account of $3000/year


• Charitable matching of $2000/year


• Investment in professional development


• Access to the benefits above without a probationary period