Lead VFX Artist

Lead VFX Artist

Location: Remote-first

Type: Full-time

Start: ASAP

About Couch Heroes

Couch Heroes is a growing, international game studio building a persistent online world in the MMO space. We’re developing in Unreal Engine with a team spanning multiple countries, currently in early production and scaling to support a multi-year live-service roadmap.

We’re remote-first, with a legal entity in the UK, and we operate with the speed and ambiguity of an early-stage company building something ambitious. We value autonomy, clear communication, and people who take ownership of their work.

About the Job

Visual effects are central to how players experience the world, from combat feedback and abilities through to environmental storytelling and atmosphere. We’re looking for a Lead VFX Artist to own the creative and technical direction of real-time effects across the project, while building and guiding a growing VFX function.

You will report to the Art Director and take full ownership of VFX quality, consistency, and performance. You’ll work closely with gameplay, animation, lighting, and environment teams to ensure effects are both visually strong and performant at MMO scale. This is an early production environment. Pipelines, standards, and workflows are still being defined, so you’ll play a key role in building the foundations the project scales on.

Your Role

VFX Leadership and Direction

• Define the overall VFX visual language, ensuring effects communicate gameplay clearly while reinforcing the world’s identity.
• Set and maintain quality standards across all effects work, reviewing and guiding the team.
• Translate art direction into clear, usable briefs, references, and standards.
• Partner with production to scope work, plan delivery, and identify risks early.

VFX Production

• Create high-quality benchmark effects in Unreal Engine 5 across abilities, combat, environments, and creatures.
• Prioritise gameplay readability, ensuring effects clearly communicate timing, impact, and intent.
• Build reusable systems, materials, and Niagara templates to support scalable production.
• Collaborate with technical art to solve shared challenges.

Technical VFX and Pipeline

• Establish and own VFX pipelines, including workflows, naming conventions, and documentation.
• Define performance budgets for large-scale multiplayer scenarios and ensure effects meet them.
• Work closely with tech art and engineering to optimise performance and scalability.
• Develop shared material systems and libraries that support consistency across the game.

Team and Collaboration

• Support the growth of the VFX team through mentorship, feedback, and knowledge sharing.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, animation, lighting, and environment teams.
• Ensure VFX integrates cleanly with gameplay systems and responds correctly to game states.
• Represent VFX in cross-discipline discussions, balancing quality with feasibility.

Must-Haves

• Significant experience as a VFX artist in games, including time in a senior or lead capacity.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality real-time VFX and creative direction.
• Deep expertise in Unreal Engine 5, particularly Niagara.
• Strong material and shader authoring skills.
• Experience building VFX pipelines, workflows, and standards.
• Proven ability to optimise effects for real-time performance at scale.
• Strong artistic fundamentals including timing, colour, and composition.
• Experience working with version control systems such as Perforce.
• Clear communication and collaborative leadership style.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience working on MMO or large-scale multiplayer titles.
• Experience with Houdini or similar tools for simulation and asset creation.
• Experience integrating VFX with audio systems.
• Scripting or programming experience such as Blueprints, C++, HLSL, or Python.
• Familiarity with post-process VFX and camera effects.

About You

• You balance hands-on craft with leadership, setting the standard through your own work.
• You think about VFX as a communication tool, not just visual polish.
• You care about performance as much as quality and hold that line across the team.
• You’re comfortable building structure in an environment where not everything exists yet.
• You’re proactive, organised, and visible in a remote team.

Couch Heroes have partnered with Skillsearch on this hire. Jack is leading the search directly with the studio leadership, so feel free to reach out to him at jb@skillsearch.com. He will be your point of contact throughout. Looking forward to connecting!

Equal Opportunities

Couch Heroes is an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender identity or expression, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.

Privacy and Data

We process your personal data as part of the recruitment process. Couch Heroes and Skillsearch both act as data controllers in relation to your application. For details on how your information is collected, used, stored, and your rights under UK GDPR, please review the relevant Privacy Policies below:

Couch Heroes: https://couch-heroes.com/privacy-policy/

Skillsearch: https://www.skillsearch.com/privacy#policy