Technical Director Lighting

Netflix Animation Studios is on a mission to entertain the world with bold, immersive animated films that are timeless and impactful. We are paving the way for the future of animation by building a community of amazing artists and talent across three vibrant locations globally. Come join us!

The Lighting Technical Director is responsible for supporting creative and visual objectives through pipeline troubleshooting, user support, technical direction, and tool development. The TD exhibits solid technical understanding of processes, technology, and tools within the relevant production craft group/s. The TD will participate in the development of artist workflows and tools, and can easily debug problematic workflow steps to support global studio productions in that area. The TD will work closely with their craft group, the Solutions Engineering and R&D teams to enable high-quality technical outcomes and a standardised approach.

What You’ll Do

• Understand the visual requirements for productions and suggest new technologies, or design procedures, techniques, and tools that will enable these to be met.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance for technology within the relevant production craft groups, especially Lighting and rendering stakeholders.
• Participate in or lead the direction, evolution & maintenance of technology within the relevant production craft groups.
• Design, develop, and write well-maintainable and consistently high-quality code.
• Track, debug and resolve workflow issues in partnership with TAs, Lead TDs, Technical Supervisors, Associate Technical Supervisors, Solutions Engineers and R&D.
• Work closely with other TDs on your team to drive the technical success of key development initiatives.
• Ensure that technology, tools, and procedures support the creative process.
• Provide solutions to visual problems through existing tools or by leading the implementation of new tools.
• Help debug and optimize misbehaving or poorly performing renders.
• Take responsibility for the troubleshooting & optimization of tools, software, and workflows.
• Actively participate in or drive QA, technical testing, and validation of new technology, tool releases, or pipeline changes, such that artist workflow is not impacted.
• Understand the processes of adjoining departments, provide input where required to maximise pipeline efficiency and quality.
• Actively participate in brainstorming and problem-solving, contributing technical expertise and insight, to create and maintain technology within the canonical production pipeline.
• Support the organisation’s overall technical goals as required.
• Be aware of the deadlines for development initiatives and actively engage in keeping these on track.
• Continuously monitor the scope of development initiatives and help to ensure scope adjustments have additional estimates, etc.
• Prioritise and break down technical projects into organised parts.
• Provide technical guidance to other TDs and TAs, where appropriate, with day-to-day issues and escalation through the right channels when necessary.
• Mentor more junior team members and assist in orientation with new starters.
• Create synergies between different work groups to promote efficiency and optimisation and to generate innovative ideas and approaches to how we do things.

Experience

• 5+ years of proven pipeline TD experience in large-scale animated features, animated TV series, the gaming industry, and/or VFX feature films.

What You’ll Need:

• Solid production/industry experience as a TD, ideally as part of a team.

Skills/Knowledge

• Comprehensive experience using and troubleshooting in Lighting and rendering software. An understanding of traditional techniques appropriate to the relevant craft groups.
• Good software development skills and understanding of department workflows and technology.
• Ability to code review and troubleshoot problems as they arise.
• Knowledge in Python as well as PyQt or another GUI toolkit.
• Knowledge of concepts like data flow, data dependencies, metadata, publishing, and retrieval.
• A familiarity with the principles of computer graphics including rendering, scene representation, colour and image processing.
• Familiarity with C++ or Swift is a plus.
• A strong understanding of USD and its general concepts is a plus.
• Knowledge of Flow Production Tracking (shotgrid).
• Knowledge of code management software such as git and github and code review processes.
• Knowledge of software development practices such as Agile and how to apply them in software such as Jira.
• Degree in Animation, Film, Computer Science, Design, Engineering, Math or Physics, or equivalent combination of education & work experience in animation/VFX.

This role is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Hybrid Role (Minimum requirement of 3 days a week in the office).

At NAS, we carefully consider a wide range of compensation factors to determine your compensation. We rely on market indicators and consider your specific job family, background, location, skills, and experience. The overall market range for this role is typically $120,000 - $180,000. This reflects total compensation; we do not have bonuses.

Inclusion is a Netflix value and we strive to host a meaningful interview experience for all candidates. If you want an accommodation/adjustment for a disability or any other reason during the hiring process, please send a request to your recruiting partner.

We are an equal‑opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.

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