ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Substance Designer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Epic Games

Senior Technical Artist

Cary, NC · On-site

$117K - $140K/yr

Generate textures and bake data using tools such as Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Houdini * Develop reusable material frameworks and workflows that enable tech artists and artists of ...

Framestore

Freelance: CG - Chicago

Chicago, IL · On-site

Maya, Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, and/or Photoshop * A working knowledge of Arnold * High level ability to produce great looking imagery across a range of styles; from photo ...

2K

Senior VFX Artist

Frisco, TX · Remote

Create memory-efficient texture assets using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Substance Designer, Houdini, or Embergen. * Produce basic 3D models, UV mapping, and simple animations when necessary.

2K

Senior VFX Artist

Frisco, TX · On-site

Create memory-efficient texture assets using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Substance Designer, Houdini, or Embergen. * Produce basic 3D models, UV mapping, and simple animations when necessary.

Framestore

Freelance: CG - Los Angeles

Santa Monica, CA · On-site

$600 - $900/day

Maya, Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, and/or Photoshop * A working knowledge of Arnold * High level ability to produce great looking imagery across a range of styles; from photo ...

Rockstar Games

Artist: Environment

Andover, MA

$128K - $154K/yr

Create procedural 2D and 3D art using traditional modeling packages (such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, etc.) and procedural node graphs (such as Houdini, Blender, Substance Designer, etc.). * Work ...

Framestore

Freelance: CG - New York

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$600 - $900/day

Maya, Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, Mari, and/or Photoshop * A working knowledge of Arnold * High level ability to produce great looking imagery across a range of styles; from photo ...

Rockstar Games

Artist: Environment

Andover, MA · On-site

$68K - $85K/yr

Experience with DCCs like 3ds Max, Adobe Photoshop, or Substance Designer. * Experience with real-time game engines and toolsets. * Experience with scripting languages like MAXScript or Python.

The Mill

Technical Artist

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$139K - $166K/yr

Comfortable in a range of content creation software including Photoshop, Zbrush/Mudbox, Allegorithmic Substance Designer/Painter Beneficial Additional Skills (not essential to the role but would help ...

The Mill

Technical Artist

Manhattan, NY

$139K - $166K/yr

Comfortable in a range of content creation software including Photoshop, Zbrush/Mudbox, Allegorithmic Substance Designer/Painter Beneficial Additional Skills (not essential to the role but would help ...

Maze of Life Resource Center

Maze of Life operates within an entrepreneur-driven culture, designed for those who value both purpose and progress. SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROFESSIONAL / FULL TIME & PART TIME OPPORTUNITIES We are looking ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsSubstance Designer Jobs

Substance Designer information

See salary details

$35.5K

$83.1K

$110K

How much do substance designer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 27, 2026, the average yearly pay for substance designer in the United States is $83,148.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $58,000.00 and $109,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Substance Designer position, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Substance Designer, you need a strong background in 3D art and material creation, with proficiency in texture authoring and an understanding of PBR (Physically Based Rendering) workflows. Expertise with tools such as Adobe Substance 3D Designer, Painter, and familiarity with game engines like Unreal or Unity is highly valuable. Creativity, attention to detail, and effective communication skills are important for collaborating with art teams and delivering visually compelling materials. These skills ensure the production of high-quality, efficient assets that meet both technical and aesthetic requirements in industries like gaming, film, and visualization.

What can you do with Substance Designer?

A Substance Designer artist creates procedural textures and materials for use in 3D modeling, rendering, and game development. The software allows for node-based workflows to generate complex, customizable materials that can be exported to various 3D applications and engines. Skills in texturing, shading, and understanding material workflows are essential for this role.

Is Substance Designer still used?

Substance Designer remains a widely used tool in the game and film industries for creating procedural textures and materials. Professionals often use it alongside other software like Unreal Engine or Unity, and proficiency in its node-based workflow is valuable for texture artists. The software continues to be supported and updated by Adobe, maintaining its relevance in digital content creation.

What jobs in the US pay 300,000 a year?

In the US, high-paying roles related to Substance Designer typically include senior visual effects artists, lead 3D artists, or technical directors in the gaming, film, or animation industries, often requiring advanced skills in procedural texturing, shading, and software proficiency. These positions usually demand extensive experience, a strong portfolio, and sometimes certifications, with salaries reaching or exceeding $300,000 annually for top-tier professionals in large studios or companies. Such roles often involve leadership responsibilities and working in collaborative, deadline-driven environments.

What is a Substance Designer job?

A Substance Designer is a digital artist who specializes in creating procedural textures and materials using Adobe Substance 3D Designer. They develop high-quality, customizable materials for use in game development, visual effects, and architectural visualization. Their work involves designing node-based workflows to generate textures that can be easily modified for different projects.

What are common challenges faced by Substance Designers in game development projects?

Substance Designers in game development often encounter challenges such as balancing visual quality with optimization to ensure materials perform well in real-time environments. They may also need to adapt quickly to shifting art direction and feedback from multiple stakeholders, requiring both flexibility and strong problem-solving skills. Staying updated with rapidly evolving software tools and techniques is essential to remain competitive in the industry. Collaboration with environment artists, technical artists, and developers is a regular part of the role, which makes clear communication and teamwork crucial to project success.

What job makes $10,000 a month without a degree?

A Substance Designer professional can potentially earn $10,000 or more per month through freelance work, contract projects, or working for high-paying studios, especially with advanced skills in procedural texturing and material creation. Success often depends on experience, portfolio quality, and industry demand, rather than formal education alone.
More about Substance Designer jobs
What cities are hiring for Substance Designer jobs? Cities with the most Substance Designer job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Substance Designer jobs? The most popular types of Substance Designer jobs are:
What states have the most Substance Designer jobs? States with the most job openings for Substance Designer jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Substance Designer jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Substance Designer jobs are:
Substance Designer jobs near you
Senior Technical Artist

Senior Technical Artist

Epic Games

Cary, NC • On-site

$117K - $140K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 4 days ago

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?
At the core of Epic's success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it's building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we're always innovating.
Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We're constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.
ART
What We Do
Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.
What You'll Do
Epic is looking for a Technical Artist with a strong focus on material creation to join the Fortnite team. In this role, you'll be responsible for building visually rich, performant materials for characters and character accessories, using Unreal Engine and industry-standard texturing tools to deliver a wide range of effects. While this position favors a materials specialist, the ideal candidate brings a generalist mindset and a solid understanding of the broader game art pipeline. You'll work closely with artists, engineers, and other tech artists to create scalable solutions that support Fortnite's visual style across many platforms.
In this role, you will
  • Create high-quality, game-ready materials for characters and other cosmetics
  • Build materials that leverage procedural textures and custom material logic to achieve distinctive visual effects
  • Generate textures and bake data using tools such as Substance Designer, Substance Painter, and Houdini
  • Develop reusable material frameworks and workflows that enable tech artists and artists of other disciplines to efficiently create unique assets
  • Collaborate with character artists, tech artists, and engineers to integrate materials with geometry, effects, and Blueprints
  • Optimize materials and textures to meet performance, memory, and scalability targets across multiple platforms
  • Contribute to improving Unreal Engine material pipelines and best practices
What we're looking for
  • A strong reel or portfolio demonstrating realtime game materials, ideally with character or cosmetic-focused examples
  • Advanced understanding of PBR workflows, real-time rendering constraints, and material authoring best practices
  • Proven experience creating complex materials using procedural textures and custom material behaviors
  • Hands-on experience with Substance Designer and Substance Painter for texture generation and asset authoring
  • Familiarity with the Unreal Engine 5 art and material pipeline
  • Experience developing content for multiple platforms
  • A solid understanding of modeling and texturing fundamentals within a real-time art pipeline, strong collaboration skills, and a desire to own features and initiatives from inception through ship
  • Bonus: Tools, scripting, or pipeline development experience for Unreal Engine, Substance Designer, and/or Substance Painter
  • Bonus: Experience in setting up or working with modern character art pipelines, building custom tools, templates, or automation to improve material and texture workflows
  • Bonus: Familiarity with Blueprints, Python, or similar scripting languages and experience in secondary areas such as modeling, lighting, or VFX
EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE
Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.
ABOUT US
Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.
Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!
Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.
Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.

Apply