Job Description

Creative / Problem Solver / Resourceful

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Projects: An unannounced virtual reality / mixed reality interactive art experience (read more below)

Duration: Permanent full-time

Location: Work from home (remote) but must be living in Canada as a citizen or have a valid work permit (preference given to those living in Vancouver)

Salary: $80K~100K

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Hello! Metanaut is a small award-winning team of virtual reality technologists who are passionate about building innovative and impactful experiences. We’ve been creating VR apps & games for over 8 years now! Our focus is to develop never-before-seen experiences that spark a sense of wonder and make a positive impact on the world. We’re expanding the size of our team to work on a brand new VR / MR experience that has the potential to become the “killer app” for the XR industry. 

Successful candidates are creative problem solvers who have previously launched projects with a high-fidelity, realistic look using Unity. They have expert level knowledge of art-related features in Unity and have strong understanding of profiling and optimization methods. HLSL / CG and URP experience is a strict requirement.

The Project

Work-In-Progress Screenshots & Concept Art: https://imgur.com/a/fKJ6O2l

An interactive non-game experience where users explore an ever-growing collection of short episodic VR / MR experiences. Each of these experiences focuses on a novel mechanic (i.e. audiovisual or interactivity). The goal behind every experience is to leave the user feeling awe and amazement. It will become the ultimate playground for exciting XR ideas not found anywhere else. Our baseline target is the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro. The visual style is high-fidelity realism on the specified headsets.

We have spent nearly 10 years in the XR industry and know what users look for in an immersive experience. All of this knowledge is being used to build what we believe will be the first “killer app” for our industry. 

By joining us, you will have the opportunity to work on something important and groundbreaking. You will also have the rare opportunity to work on a project from the very beginning–making important decisions along the way.

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Responsibilities:

• Create performant HLSL / CG shaders to achieve high fidelity realism
• Create lighting, particle effects, and post-processing effects in Unity 2022 LTS (URP)
• Collaborate with 3D modelers and create rigs, materials, and textures for their needs
• Profile and optimize art assets and effects to maximize fidelity while meeting performance targets
• Continuously improve art pipelines and help define technical standards to achieve artistic goals and vision
• Perform regular quality checks on art assets to ensure they meet technical and artistic standards, troubleshooting and resolving any issues that arise
• Act as a liaison between the art and programming teams, facilitating effective communication and ensuring the seamless integration of art assets into Unity
• Write and maintain technical documentation in our internal wiki 
• Create and update your tasks in Asana
• Conduct and/or participate in relevant meetings
• Respond promptly to Slack messages from team members during work hours

Requirements:

• 6+ years as a Technical Artist
• 6+ years of professional Unity experience with at least one shipped title
• Creative problem solver with strong understanding of meshes, UVs, textures, materials, shaders, lighting, and real-time rendering techniques
• Strong understanding of HLSL / CG
• Proficiency in 3D modeling, rigging, and animation
• Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and other digital art creation tools
• BS/BA/BFA degree in graphic design, fine arts, animation, visual communication, or equivalent
• Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail.
• Ability to learn and adapt quickly to new technologies
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Self-driven and self-motivated 
• Disciplined without needing constant supervision in a home environment
• Understands the importance of documentation

Nice to haves:

• Experience with VR
• Experience using Unity 2022 (URP)
• Experience with photogrammetry
• Experience mentoring and/or managing artists

About Metanaut:

We are one of the most experienced VR studios in the world, having started with the Oculus Rift DK2 in 2015. We have won some of the world’s largest VR competitions and were accepted into the largest AR grant (from Magic Leap). The company is run by a longtime tech entrepreneur who was one of the first Android mobile developers in the world.

Our studio is entirely independent and Canadian owned. All shareholders work full-time at the studio, and we understand the importance of making a positive impact on the world.

We split our time between the metaverse and Vancouver, and we want you to join us in the journey! 

Benefits:

• Be part of a small and friendly team 
• Focus on your work instead of sitting through endless meetings
• Make important decisions that affect the company and our projects
• 100% coverage of any health-related spending within an allowance
• 3 weeks of vacation + 5 sick days
• Introvert-friendly! Fully remote, work with us on Slack 
• Work with bleeding edge, unannounced, next-gen headsets
• Work on a potential “killer app” and change the XR industry
• More benefits listed on our careers page (link below)

To Apply:

Learn more about us on our careers page: https://metanautlabs.com/careers/

If everything looks good, email careers@metanautlabs.com with the following: 

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• A link to your portfolio 
• Tell us where you found the job posting
• Tell us one interesting fact about yourself