Principal Technical Artist

Parallel Domain • Full-time • Seattle, WA • 1m ago

We’re seeking a Principal Technical Artist to help drive the next generation of real-time rendering workflows and CG asset development at Parallel Domain. In this role, you’ll apply your broad experience across content creation and real-time systems to help solve open-ended, high-impact problems in simulation. You’ll work at the intersection of art, engineering, and product—developing tools, introducing new techniques, and providing technical leadership to help the team build scalable, performant solutions.

The ideal candidate is a generalist technical artist: someone who is deeply familiar with the wide landscape of technical art—from tooling to performance tuning to content workflows—and who knows how to move between them pragmatically. We’re not looking for a narrowly focused specialist. Instead, we value those with proven experience supporting artists, collaborating with engineers, and driving forward work across a wide range of disciplines.

Success in this role also depends on being a strong communicator and connector. You’ll collaborate regularly with artists, engineers, QA, product, and simulation teams, often bridging disciplines to ensure complex systems and workflows stay aligned. You should be equally comfortable talking shop with rendering engineers as you are translating technical nuance to non-technical peers, and naturally curious about how adjacent teams operate.

You’ll be most effective in this role if you’re comfortable navigating complex systems and solving problems independently. While support is always available, many of the challenges you’ll tackle will benefit from your ability to explore systems, ask thoughtful questions, and connect the dots across disciplines. You should bring a proactive mindset—willing to dig into unfamiliar territory, learn from peers, and propose creative solutions that move the team forward.

What You'll Do:

Build and deliver scalable tools and workflows in Houdini, Unreal Engine, and other DCCs to accelerate asset production, including support for novel content formats like Gaussian Splat-based scene reconstruction
Collaborate with technical artists, engineers, and product managers to improve quality and efficiency of asset pipelines from ideation to final delivery
Help shape and implement the integration of machine learning-enhanced workflows and cutting-edge procedural systems
Profile and optimize real-time performance in Unreal Engine across GPU and CPU domains, supporting interactive and large-scale batch simulation
Codify best practices and drive technical alignment across teams to ensure scalable content solutions
Contribute content-oriented feedback to core rendering and simulation systems, helping to shape broader engine architecture and feature roadmaps
Mentor and support senior and mid-level team members across technical art and content creation disciplines
Influence technical strategy across teams by collaborating with engineering, simulation, product, and SDK teams to scope features and define success metrics
Act as a primary liaison between content development and infrastructure to ensure tooling is robust, reproducible, and scalable
Identify, prioritize, and prototype opportunities to improve simulation fidelity and workflow efficiency
Maintain an agile, iterative approach to problem solving, capable of balancing exploratory R&D with practical execution
Contribute to long-term product and technical roadmaps with proactive research and experimentation

What Success Looks Like (First 6 Months):

Integrated high-quality assets into the production pipeline using the in-house toolset
Delivered tools in Houdini and Unreal Engine to improve content team efficiency
Built strong cross-functional relationships with engineering, simulation, rendering, and DevOps teams
Provided actionable insights and technical leadership to influence the technical roadmap
Contributed to key development initiatives aligned with company OKRs and shipped customer-facing features

What We're Looking For:

8+ years of experience as a technical artist or equivalent, working in real-time environments such as simulation, virtual production, or interactive visualization
Shipped at least one real-time product utilizing a physically based rendering pipeline
Expert-level proficiency in Unreal Engine 5, including materials, Blueprints, performance profiling, and asset management
Advanced skills in procedural content generation using Houdini or comparable tools (e.g., Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, or Unreal PCG)
Strong programming and scripting skills in languages such as Python, VEX, HLSL, C++, or batch scripting
Excellent communication abilities, with a collaborative mindset and a strong inclination to mentor and support others

Bonus Skills

Experience applying machine learning or AI-based tools within DCCs or real-time rendering environments (e.g., NeRFs, Gaussian Splats, ComfyUI)
Understanding of real-world sensor simulation, including RGB, LiDAR, Radar, or related data modalities
Familiarity with distributed rendering systems and cloud-based pipeline solutions
Academic or applied background in mathematics, physics, or related computational fields

$150,000 - $175,000 a year

Why Join Parallel Domain

At Parallel Domain, you’ll help shape the core simulation technology powering the next generation of autonomous systems. You'll be part of a talented, mission-driven team working at the intersection of machine learning, simulation, and robotics. Your contributions will have a direct impact on real-world products used in automotive, robotics, and AI development—advancing the state of the art in how intelligent systems learn and interact with the world.

Benefits

We offer competitive salary and equity packages, along with full health, dental, and vision coverage. Our flexible, remote-friendly work culture supports team members across the Pacific Northwest, with an emphasis on work-life balance. We also provide learning stipends, professional development opportunities, generous vacation, and company-wide breaks—because we believe great work happens when people are supported, challenged, and well-rested.

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