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Houdini Technical Artist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Parallel Domain

Principal Technical Artist

Seattle, WA · On-site +1

$144K - $173K/yr

We're hiring a Principal Technical Artist to bring the next generation of these workflows into ... You'll move fluently between Unreal Engine, Houdini, Python, shader code, and modern AI tooling ...

Parallel Domain

Principal Technical Artist

Seattle, WA · Remote

$130K - $155K/yr

We're hiring a Principal Technical Artist to bring the next generation of these workflows into ... You'll move fluently between Unreal Engine, Houdini, Python, shader code, and modern AI tooling ...

Parallel Domain

Principal Technical Artist

Seattle, WA

$144K - $173K/yr

We're hiring a Principal Technical Artist to bring the next generation of these workflows into ... You'll move fluently between Unreal Engine, Houdini, Python, shader code, and modern AI tooling ...

AGBO

Technical Artist, Environment

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$90K - $110K/yr

AGBO is looking for a Technical Artist, Environment to bridge the gap between our World-building ... Experience in Houdini for procedural asset and scatter tooling * Demonstrated understanding of PBR ...

AGBO

Technical Artist, Environment

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$123K - $147K/yr

AGBO is looking for a Technical Artist, Environment to bridge the gap between our World-building ... Experience in Houdini for procedural asset and scatter tooling * Demonstrated understanding of PBR ...

AGBO

Technical Artist, Environment

Raleigh, NC

$123K - $147K/yr

AGBO is looking for a Technical Artist, Environment to bridge the gap between our World-building ... Experience in Houdini for procedural asset and scatter tooling * Demonstrated understanding of PBR ...

AGBO

Technical Artist, Environment

Los Angeles, CA

$90K - $110K/yr

AGBO is looking for a Technical Artist, Environment to bridge the gap between our World-building ... Experience in Houdini for procedural asset and scatter tooling * Demonstrated understanding of PBR ...

AGBO Films LLC

Technical Artist, Environment

Raleigh, NC · On-site

$123K - $147K/yr

AGBO is looking for a Technical Artist, Environment to bridge the gap between our World-building ... Experience in Houdini for procedural asset and scatter tooling * Demonstrated understanding of PBR ...

Epic Games

Senior Technical Artist

Cary, NC · On-site

$117K - $140K/yr

What You'll Do Epic is looking for a Technical Artist with a strong focus on material creation to ... and Houdini * Develop reusable material frameworks and workflows that enable tech artists and ...

Netflix

Principal Technical Artist, Games R&D - Tech Lab

$130K - $155K/yr

The R&D Team Games Principal Technical Artist will be on a small, senior-leaning team of multi ... Houdini, etc. * Passion for making video games, especially in a rapid, focused, smaller form vs ...

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All JobsHoudini Technical Artist Jobs

Houdini Technical Artist information

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$95.5K

$138.7K

$153.5K

How much do houdini technical artist jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 20, 2026, the average yearly pay for houdini technical artist in the United States is $138,713.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $127,000.00 and $152,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Houdini Technical Artist, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Houdini Technical Artist, you need a strong background in 3D computer graphics, procedural modeling, and visual effects, often supported by a degree in computer graphics, animation, or a related field. Proficiency in SideFX Houdini, scripting languages like Python or VEX, and familiarity with game engines or rendering systems are typically required. Creativity, problem-solving, and effective communication are key soft skills that help in translating artistic visions into technical solutions and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams. These skills and qualities are crucial for delivering high-quality visual effects and efficient workflows in animation, gaming, or film production environments.

How does a Houdini Technical Artist typically collaborate with other departments in a production pipeline?

A Houdini Technical Artist works closely with departments such as modeling, lighting, animation, and compositing to develop procedural tools, assets, and effects that integrate seamlessly into the overall pipeline. They often bridge the gap between artists and programmers by translating creative concepts into technical solutions, troubleshooting issues, and optimizing workflows. Clear communication and adaptability are key, as they must ensure their tools and scripts are user-friendly for artists while meeting technical requirements set by production leads.

What is a Houdini Technical Artist?

A Houdini Technical Artist is a professional who specializes in using SideFX Houdini, a powerful 3D animation and visual effects software, to create complex simulations and procedural assets for games, films, and other media. They bridge the gap between art and technology by developing tools, workflows, and effects that help artists achieve visually stunning results efficiently. Their work often involves scripting, problem-solving, and collaborating closely with both artists and programmers to optimize pipelines and meet creative goals.

What is the difference between Houdini Technical Artist vs 3D Generalist?

AspectHoudini Technical Artist3D Generalist
Required SkillsProficiency in Houdini, scripting, procedural workflows, visual effectsModeling, texturing, lighting, rendering across multiple software
Work EnvironmentVFX studios, animation, game development with focus on effects and technical pipelinesVaried industries, flexible roles across multiple 3D disciplines
Common UsageSpecialized in procedural effects, simulations, and technical pipeline supportBroad 3D content creation, including modeling, animation, and rendering

The Houdini Technical Artist specializes in procedural effects, scripting, and technical workflows within VFX and game studios, whereas a 3D Generalist handles a wide range of 3D tasks across multiple disciplines. Both roles require strong 3D software skills, but the Houdini Technical Artist focuses more on effects and pipeline optimization, making it more specialized.

More about Houdini Technical Artist jobs
What cities are hiring for Houdini Technical Artist jobs? Cities with the most Houdini Technical Artist job openings:
What states have the most Houdini Technical Artist jobs? States with the most job openings for Houdini Technical Artist jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Houdini Technical Artist jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Houdini Technical Artist jobs are:
Houdini Technical Artist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Houdini Technical Artist job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 50% Full Time, 49% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 99% Physical, and 1% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $138,713 per year, or $66.7 per hour.
Principal Technical Artist

Principal Technical Artist

Parallel Domain

Seattle, WA • On-site, Remote

$144K - $173K/yr

Full-time

Dental, Vision, PTO

Re-posted 23 days ago

Job description

About the Role
Before an autonomous vehicle navigates a busy intersection, before a robot learns to pick and place in a warehouse, before any Physical AI system is trusted in the real world, it has to prove itself in ours. Parallel Domain builds the platform that validates the next generation of autonomous systems in high-fidelity virtual environments.
Our content and rendering pipeline is how that platform earns its credibility with customers. The virtual environments we build have to hold up under physical, geometric, and sensor-level scrutiny-they are the testbeds against which our customers' autonomous systems are validated. Building environments at that level of fidelity and scale demands techniques that go beyond a typical AAA game pipeline. Gaussian splat scene reconstruction, neural rendering, AI-assisted content workflows, and modern procedural systems are reshaping what a tech artist's day looks like.
We're hiring a Principal Technical Artist to bring the next generation of these workflows into production at Parallel Domain. This is a senior individual contributor role: you'll work alongside our rendering, simulation, and content engineers on open-ended content and pipeline problems. You'll move fluently between Unreal Engine, Houdini, Python, shader code, and modern AI tooling, and your judgment will shape how our team builds the environments that train and validate autonomous systems.
Responsibilities
  • Own the technical content stack. End to end: asset pipelines, procedural tooling, material systems, performance budgets, and content validation that turn an artist's intent into a production-ready scene.
  • Build and ship tools. Deliver tooling in Unreal Engine and Houdini that makes the content team measurably faster. We care less about the elegance of the tool and more about whether artists are using it next quarter to ship work they couldn't ship before.
  • Drive AI-augmented workflows. Bring modern techniques into content creation: gaussian splat scene reconstruction, neural texture synthesis, ML-assisted asset generation, and the next wave of techniques as they emerge. Hold an opinionated view on where these tools belong in a production pipeline and where they don't.
  • Optimize real-time performance. Profile and optimize across GPU and CPU in Unreal Engine, supporting both interactive use and large-scale batch simulation. Identify bottlenecks, codify the fixes as patterns, and make sure the team isn't relearning the same lessons every six months.
  • Work across disciplines. Operate as connective tissue across content, rendering, simulation, ML, and product. Translate between disciplines, broker tradeoffs between content fidelity and runtime performance, and make sure the systems we build hang together.
  • Set the craft bar. We're not asking you to manage people, but we expect you to lead by example on the craft side. Your work should make the people around you better at theirs.
  • Move quickly. Ship into production early and often. Many of the problems you'll work on don't have a known answer-your job is to scope the unknown, prototype something that works, and harden it from there.
  • Use AI tooling actively. LLM-assisted coding, scripting, and asset generation can meaningfully accelerate the work when applied well. We expect fluency here and active contribution to the team's practice.

Required Qualifications
  • Experience. 8+ years as a technical artist or in a closely adjacent role, with at least one shipped product on a real-time, physically based rendering pipeline.
  • Unreal Engine 5 expertise. Expert-level proficiency including materials, Blueprints, performance profiling, the asset pipeline, and the engine's deeper rendering features. You can debug a frame budget, fix a broken shader, and ship a Blueprint utility in the same afternoon.
  • Programming fluency. Productive across some combination of Python, C++, HLSL, VEX, and shell. You reach for code rather than manual process whenever possible.
  • Production speed. Demonstrated ability to take open-ended content or workflow problems, scope them yourself, and ship working systems the team adopts-without extensive hand-holding.
  • AI workflow fluency. Working command of LLM-based coding tools, generative content tooling (e.g., diffusion models, ComfyUI), and the broader category of AI tools reshaping technical art. You stay on top of where these tools are heading and bring that thinking into the team's practice.
  • Communication. Equally comfortable talking shaders with rendering engineers, performance with simulation engineers, and tradeoffs with non-technical product partners.
  • Generalist disposition. Able to move pragmatically across content creation, tooling, rendering, performance, and pipeline. We're not looking for someone narrowly specialized in one corner of technical art.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Neural scene reconstruction. Hands-on experience with gaussian splatting, NeRFs, or similar techniques in a production or near-production setting.
  • Procedural content generation. Experience in Houdini or equivalent (Maya, Blender, 3DS Max, Unreal PCG), including authoring HDAs and integrating them into a real-time pipeline.
  • Sensor simulation. Familiarity with RGB cameras, LiDAR, radar, and the visual artifacts that matter to autonomous-system perception models.
  • Distributed/cloud pipelines. Experience with distributed rendering or cloud-based content pipelines.
  • Computational background. Mathematics, physics, or computational graphics that lets you reason from first principles when a problem demands it.

What Success Looks Like
In your first six months, you'll have:
  • Integrated into the production pipeline and shipped meaningful content using our in-house tools.
  • Delivered tooling in Houdini or Unreal Engine that improves content team velocity.
  • Built strong working relationships with engineering, simulation, rendering, and DevOps stakeholders.
  • Influenced the technical roadmap with at least one concrete bet that ships customer value.

What Makes a Great Candidate
You're a generalist who's excellent at technical art, equally at home in rendering, tooling, content, and performance. You hold strong opinions about the craft but treat your tools as instruments, not identity. You're a builder, not a planner: you scope, prototype, ship, and iterate. You're paying close attention to how AI tooling is changing technical art and you want to be hands-on with that change.
Base salary range of CAD $145,000-$175,000, depending on skills, qualifications, and experience, plus equity, full health/dental/vision coverage, learning stipend, and generous vacation. This role is based remotely or hybrid in the Pacific Northwest (Vancouver, BC or Seattle, WA).
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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