Freelance Unreal Engine Artist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job Location: Salina, Kansas

About Us

Pure Imagination Studios started in 2012 as a diversified entertainment company built by a team of creators who shared a true passion for storytelling. We thrive on imagination, and everything we do is set to bring a tangible experience to anything our clients, partners and even ourselves, are able to imagine. We believe that pure imagination should be the fuel to our reality.

Pure Imagination Labs designs immersive, interactive experiences that make complex training and simulation intuitive, purposeful, and fun. Our projects blend real-time systems, tactile interfaces, and narrative framing to support education, decision-making, teamwork, and user engagement in high-stakes scenarios. We take the best of game design and apply it to real-world learning environments that demand more than just entertainment. The environments are dynamic, the challenges are varied, and the work is as rewarding as it is technically ambitious.

Overview

Pure Imagination Labs' Senior Unreal Technical Artist owns asset integration and performance readiness in Unreal Engine. Optimizes externally authored content for real-time use, manages LODs, lightmaps, and asset organization. Builds lightweight tools and utilities to streamline asset validation and pipeline efficiency. Supports install-phase testing, visual troubleshooting, and cross-discipline content alignment.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical quality and performance-readiness of real-time 3D content across environments, props, and characters in Unreal Engine.
• Integrate and optimize externally authored assets, ensuring they meet runtime standards for fidelity, performance, and compatibility.
• Prepare and refine content for clean import—including naming, scale, collisions, UVs, LODs, and lightmaps—while maintaining project structure and technical discipline.
• Tune scene and asset performance using Nanite, Lumen, level streaming, and profiling tools to support stability across cinematic and interactive contexts.
• Collaborate closely with art, design, and engineering to ensure assets are readable, performant, and function as expected across physical-digital systems.
• Develop lightweight tools or process enhancements using Blueprint, Python, or similar scripting methods to improve asset integration, workflow efficiency, and content validation.
• Support in-world testing and install readiness by troubleshooting asset behavior, visual bugs, or runtime issues in staging and QA environments.
• Contribute to visual consistency across materials, surfacing, simple VFX, and animated elements as needed to support experience delivery.
• Assist in defining content conventions and scalable practices that support future reuse, optimization, and multi-team collaboration.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Associate’s degree or equivalent from two-year college/technical school required.
• Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university is preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum 5 to 8 years of experience working in Unreal Engine (UE4/UE5) as a technical artist, 3D generalist, or real-time content integrator.
• Solid working knowledge with Unreal systems, including Nanite, Lumen, LODs, collisions, lightmaps, and performance profiling.
• Proficiency with DCC tools such as Maya, Blender, Substance, or Houdini for asset prep, optimization, and content validation.
• Proficient in runtime performance considerations and scalable content structuring for team-based delivering clarity.
• Familiarity with scripting or automation tools such as Unreal Blueprint, Python, or similar, to support asset integration, workflow efficiency, or content validation.
• Collaborative team member able to work between art, design, and engineering groups to support cohesive real-time experiences.

Additional Qualifications

• Proven ability preparing assets for cinematic cutscenes or physically installed environments.
• Experience supporting immersive or simulation-based projects in a real-time production context.
• Solid foundation with Sequencer, Control Rig, or Niagara from a content staging or testing perspective.
• Exposure to in-editor utilities such as material switching, proxy replacement, or asset validation tools.
• Proven ability to contribute to pipeline decisions or scaling asset workflows across external vendors or multi-project teams.
• Flexibility to travel for live staging and working on-site for installations, tests, or technical rehearsals.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to interact effectively with internal teams, external vendors, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to handle sensitive information with confidentiality and professionalism.

o Hybrid: This position has been designated as hybrid, generally contributing from the office a minimum of four days per week.

o Required Residence: This candidate must live or reside in the state of Kansas; or relocate within six (6) months of offered employment.

o Required Travel: This candidate is required to travel up to 15% for specific project installations.

The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. This position is eligible for company sponsored benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), medical leave, and a variety of other perks. A bonus and incentive plan may be provided as part of the compensation package, dependent on the level and position offered.

Learn more about the opportunities offered by Pure Imagination by visiting the Careers page of the company website.

Annual Salary: $120,000 (bonus eligible)

Pure Imagination Studios is an equal opportunity employer (EOE).