Associate Technical Director (ATD)

Sony Pictures Imageworks is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil‑Waututh First Nations. We are committed to respecting traditional lands, and working with communities towards reconciliation.

Project based, Full Time

Language in work environment - English

Benefits per company policy: include healthcare, tuition reimbursement, RRSP's, Sick and Vacation leave, standard increases as applicable

Sony Imageworks Vancouver is seeking an Assistant Technical Director (ATD)!

Reporting to the VFX and CG Supervisors, an Associate Technical Director (ATD) will be involved in the creation, development and ongoing support of a large high‑end visual effect pipeline and asset management system, as well as application tools, utilities, and visual development of final images. This is a service‑oriented role, working between productions and development, and the ATD should have a helpful, patient and accommodating personality. Candidates should have a strong passion for art and lighting, developing and utilizing software to enhance the visual development process, seamlessly blending artistic vision with technical execution.

Duties:

• Develop and maintain scripts, tools and utilities for 3D and 2D artists.
• Work in and understand the SPI’s proprietary pipeline.
• Create, package, document and release tools for production use.
• Help author production specific training materials for new hires.
• Assist artists with technical issues anywhere in the production pipeline.
• Assist teams to optimize and reduce render times for various render passes.
• Coordinate with the Render Efficiency Team to distribute and implement optimizations in production.
• Work as “triage” from time‑to‑time, acting as the point person for any and all production‑related queries to the pipeline department.
• Identify workflow inefficiencies and work with artists and other pipeline teams to build scripts, tools and/or systems to improve these inefficiencies.

Qualifications

• Strong interest in Visual Development, Film, Lighting and/or Compositing a plus
• Good Knowledge of at least one or more of the following 2D/3D software packages such as Maya, Katana, Houdini, Clarisse, and Nuke.
• Programming experience, preferably in Python, Lua, C++.
• Excellent problem‑solving and interpersonal skills.
• Bash/cshell/Linux knowledge.
• Experience in code‑sharing, revision control is a plus.
• Experience with Docker or other software distribution systems.
• Experience with Arnold or any other ray tracing‑based renderers such as Vray, Mantra, Renderman or Mental Ray.
• Some experience writing shaders is a plus.
• Some basic knowledge or experience as a 3D or 2D artist is a plus.
• Undergraduate or Graduate degree in Computing Science a plus.
• Individuals with a growth mindset eager to learn, ask questions, and unafraid to try, fail, and iterate.
• Confident in their abilities and knowledge, yet open to feedback and seeking improvement.

Please note that you must be able to provide a demo reel that illustrates your relevant artistic and technical experience that also includes the nuances for this specific role.

We value unique perspectives, and want diverse, unique talent to work with us. We encourage candidates from all identities to apply.

\*Sony Pictures Entertainment is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.