Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer

About the role

We are seeking a Real-Time 3D Asset Engineer to help us create modern training systems, compelling visual tools, and real-time content pipelines for critical national security challenges. You'll join a multidisciplinary team that creates interactive training and visualization tools grounded in real-world form, function, and engineering detail.

Responsibilities

• Create, optimize, and integrate real-time 3D assets, materials, and scenes for training systems, engineering visualizations, interactive tools, and mission-focused applications.
• Build production-ready models, textures, and materials from reference photos, CAD, 3D scans, photogrammetry, engineering drawings, and other source material, with an emphasis on equipment, environments, facilities, and other hard-surface assets.
• Optimize 3D assets for real-time performance, including polycount, draw calls, texture memory, levels of detail, colliders, materials, and scene organization.
• Develop and maintain source-to-engine asset pipelines that help artists and engineers move content from reference material and 3D tools into Unity, Unreal, or other real-time engines.
• Create tools, scripts, shaders, import/export workflows, and asset-processing utilities that streamline real-time content production.
• Work with artists, engineers, and software developers to troubleshoot asset, rendering, shader, lighting, source control, and build issues across production pipelines.
• Help shape practical technical art standards for reference gathering, asset quality, visual accuracy, optimization, source control, and repeatable workflows.

Qualifications

• Have a bachelor’s degree in game art, technical art, digital art, computer graphics, game development, engineering, architecture, a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Have 3+ years of professional experience creating real-time 3D art for games, AR/VR, training systems, engineering visualization, simulation, or other interactive applications.
• Have a portfolio, demo reel, or project examples that show finished 3D models, textures, materials, or scenes based on real-world source material.
• Have experience with 3D content tools and real-time engine workflows, such as Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Substance tools, Unity, Unreal Engine, proprietary game engines, or similar tools.
• Have used scripting, shader authoring, or programming to solve technical art problems, streamline workflows, improve materials, process assets, or support real-time content production.
• Able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain Secret level clearance.

About Us

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) brings world-class expertise to our nation's most critical defense, security, space, and science challenges. We celebrate our differences of perspectives and encourage creativity and bold, new ideas. Our employees enjoy generous benefits, including a robust education assistance program, unparalleled retirement contributions, and a healthy work/life balance. APL's campus is located in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. Learn more about our career opportunities at https://www.jhuapl.edu/careers.