Environments Workflow TD

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.

Sony Pictures Imageworks Canada Inc.
725 Granville Street, 5th Floor
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V7K 1Y4

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 Pictures Imageworks is searching for a highly qualified and skilled Environments Workflow TD to join our Environments team!

As the Lead Workflow TD, you will coordinate the work of developing, deploying and supporting Houdini-centric workflows used by teams of Environment generalists across multiple high-end VFX and animated feature projects.

This is a departmental role, a very exciting opportunity to profoundly influence the way a generation of SPI artists work. Removed from the front lines of shot production, it will allow you to demonstrate SPI’s powerful and complex pipeline to produce truly
sophisticated, artist-centered workflows.

What you'll be doing
Collaborating closely with the Head of Environments to develop long-term roadmaps for the environments pipeline and workflow.
Working closely with the Dev Group, show-based Enviro Tech Leads, and end users (environment artists) to craft performant, artist-friendly tools and templates for Houdini and Nuke.
Setting and enforcing consistent technical standards for environment teams across all projects.
Working with Pipe and Dev teams on troubleshooting and optimizing environment tools and pipelines in production contexts.
Coordinating the initial technical setup for new productions and handing off to team leadership, ensuring a smooth start to the work of the environment teams.
Overseeing the technical documentation of environment tools, workflows and pipelines.
Clearly and constantly communicating the status of the workflows and tools to the user base. 

Collaborating with the Learning & Development department to create training materials and run training sessions for the tools and workflows.

What we need to see
7+ years of experience in high-end visual effects and/or animation.
5+ years of experience working in large-scale pipelines.
Experienced and proficient with Houdini, including VEX, HScript, Python and Qt.
Experience creating custom tools in Houdini (OTLs/HDAs) to address needs in some or all of the following areas:
o Layout/dressing/scattering of natural environments
o Procedural city layout & dressing
o Terrain generation
o Procedural generation of cliff & rock geometry
o Procedural generation of building geometry
o Photogrammetry
o Volumes (i.e. clouds) & other environmental FX
o Procedural texturing, shading
Experience creating python tools in Nuke to facilitate advanced matte painting workflows.
A detailed understanding of the principles of good UI design, and a dedication to making tools that are intuitive, elegant and easy to use.

Ways to stand out from the crowd
Experience as an Environment Generalist at a Senior level is a significant advantage.
Strong knowledge and understanding of the natural world (geology, geography, and meteorology) and architecture (design and engineering).
Experience with Houdini Solaris, USD, MaterialX.
Familiarity with Katana, Maya, Speedtree, Unreal Engine.
Familiarity with Git or similar software repositories.
Experience with virtual production workflows & technologies.
Experience with emerging AI technologies
Experience with developing for Adobe applications, especially Photoshop and After Effects.

Personal Qualities we’re looking for
A collaborative and open attitude: excited to take on artists’ requests, learn from their experiences, and apply those lessons to the next version.

Ability to think strategically whilst also keeping on top of present needs.
Excellent communication skills in English. Proficiency in French is a nice bonus, especially if located in the Montreal office.
Must be capable of developing and supporting multiple tools in the context of a fast-paced production environment of six or more concurrent projects.
Organized and highly diligent.

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.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $50.34 to $64.95/hr. Benefits are per company policy: which include healthcare, tuition reimbursement, RRSP's, Sick and Vacation leave, standard increases as applicable. The actual base salary offered will
depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location
of the position.

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.