Lead Lighting Artist in Oxford

Rebellion, an independent developer with a strong history of creating games, films, comics, and more, is looking for a Lead Lighting Artist to join our Art team at our Oxford headquarters. We are on the lookout for a Lead Lighting Artist to join our passionate and growing Art team. This centralised role will support multiple projects simultaneously across the studio, helping to raise the bar for lighting quality and consistency across everything we do. We can provide a relocation package, including moving assistance, temporary accommodation, and full support to ensure a smooth transition to your new environment.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Art Directors and art teams across multiple projects to define and deliver a high-quality lighting vision using our in-house engine.
• Take ownership of lighting across multiple projects simultaneously, working alongside other disciplines to ensure visual consistency and narrative clarity at each stage of development.
• Contribute to the development of lighting pipelines, tools, and documentation to improve team efficiency and output quality.
• Proactively anticipate and address technical challenges, mentoring lighting artists and training environment artists on lighting best practices to raise quality across the studio.
• Apply expert-level knowledge of lighting workflows, physically-based rendering, and engine-specific technical considerations to establish and maintain consistent best practices across all studio projects.
• Craft compelling, atmospheric lighting that meets both art direction and design requirements, with a strong understanding of how light creates tone, mood, and player guidance.
• Collaborate cross-discipline with environment, VFX, and design teams to support broader game needs, providing hands-on lighting guidance to environment artists and maintaining a cohesive visual standard.
• Be proactive in communications, seeking and addressing feedback, and supporting the lighting team in managing tasks and priorities across concurrent projects.
• Optimise lighting to maximise performance without compromising quality, making informed trade-offs where necessary.

Qualifications

• Expert-level portfolio showcasing both artistic and technical lighting skills, including PBR shading and realistic lighting within a real-time game engine (Unreal, Unity, or similar).
• Expert understanding of lighting fundamentals – colour theory, exposure, contrast, and how they combine to create tone, mood, and atmosphere.
• Significant professional experience developing in-game lighting that enhances gameplay, supports player navigation, and reinforces narrative intent.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of lighting across multiple projects or a significant body of work simultaneously, with minimal oversight.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to identifying and resolving technical issues.
• Receptive to feedback and eager to improve, with demonstrated experience giving constructive feedback to peers.
• A collaborative, team-oriented attitude with excellent communication skills and a natural inclination to share knowledge and upskill others.
• Established time management and task prioritisation skills, with experience balancing competing deadlines across multiple concurrent projects.
• Passion for games and a continuous learning mindset.

Desirable

• Experience in a lead or senior lighting role, including mentoring junior or mid-level artists, ideally within a centralised or service-team model supporting multiple projects.
• Familiarity with HDR authoring workflows and calibration for consistent output across display types.
• Experience working with in-house or proprietary engines.
• Understanding of cinematic lighting techniques and how they translate to real-time environments.
• Knowledge of post-processing pipelines including tone-mapping, bloom, and auto-exposure.

Benefits

• 22 days holidays + Christmas closure (typically 4 days) & Bank holidays (increasing with service at 5 years – one day each year until you reach 31 days)
• Private Medical Insurance, healthcare cash plan, including dental and Vision
• Life Assurance, Income Protection & Critical Illness Cover
• Enhanced Family Leave
• Interest Free, Tax-Free loans
• Enhanced Pension Scheme
• EAP a range of Mental Health and Wellbeing Support

Right to Work

This role is only open to applicants who have the permanent right to work in the UK. We are unable to provide or take over visa sponsorship, either now or in the future. Applicants must therefore be able to demonstrate their ongoing eligibility to work in the UK without the need for employer sponsorship.

Location

Our riverside headquarters in Oxford places you a short walk away from the city centre. The city boasts excellent transport links, making it easy to navigate both the city and the wider country. The train station, just a short walk from our studio, offers frequent services to London and direct routes to major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Reading. We also offer free parking at the studio.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and encourage applications from all backgrounds. We value diversity and inclusion, welcoming applicants of all cultures, genders, ethnicities, neurodiversity and more.