Unreal Engine Rendering Engineer (contract)

"A propeller rumbles in the distance. You turn your head and gaze towards the horizon as you find yourself standing on the ledge of a steep drop with nothing but skies beneath you. An approaching gust throws you off balance and you feel as if you're about to tip over and down into the abyss. As your body jolts into action, correcting your stance, you hear a friend behind you scream 'watch out!'. A flying craft, the Wasp, bursts through the clouds and heads straight towards you, chased by a menacing creature whose wingbeat echoes across the skies. This, you realize, is how your ATMOSFAR begins." If your imagination is already churning, and you want to help us craft these kinds of experiences, come join us at Apog Labs! As our freelance UE Rendering Engineer, you'll dig into how players see ATMOSFAR by auditing the lighting, geometry and image pipeline that bring planet Tycos to life. Over this focused one-month contract, you'll profile and evaluate the rendering systems that everything else is viewed through, surfacing the performance wins that keep frames fast and beautiful. Learn more about ATMOSFAR here . This is a focused one-month contract to evaluate the current state of our rendering performance. You'll dig into how the game looks and runs today, profile our rendering stack and identify where we're spending our frame time and memory while also surfacing any low-hanging fruit as well as bigger opportunities for optimization. ATMOSFAR has an established art and visual direction, with rendering features and scenes already in production. Rather than rebuilding systems, your job is to assess what exists, find where it's costing us and hand back clear, prioritized and actionable recommendations and implement quick wins where you can land them within the contract. The position is offered as an hourly freelance contract spanning one (1) month of full-time work and can be executed fully remote. However, we can also offer a desk to work from at our office in Malmö, Sweden. About the position What you will do Profile and audit ATMOSFAR's rendering performance across target platforms, establishing where frame time, GPU and memory budgets are being spent Evaluate the configuration and cost of Unreal Engine's rendering stack including Lumen, Nanite, VSM and MegaLights by flagging potential misconfigurations, inefficiencies and tuning opportunities Review post process volume setups for cost versus visual impact Identify low-hanging fruit for quick optimization wins and document larger structural opportunities with effort and impact estimates Deliver a clear, prioritized set of findings and recommendations the team can act on after the contract ends and implementing select quick wins where time allows Collaborate with the art and engineering teams to ground recommendations in the game's visual direction and technical constraints Who you are Strong real-time rendering background with deep, hands-on knowledge of the Unreal Engine's modern rendering pipeline for UE 5.6 and up with particular focus on Lumen, Nanite, VSM and MegaLights and how they interact and their frame rate costs Proven experience profiling and optimizing Unreal Engine projects, with fluency in the relevant tools such as Unreal Insights, RenderDoc and stat commands Ability to quickly assess an unfamiliar project, isolate bottlenecks and communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders Working knowledge of post process volumes with color and exposure workflows Solid grasp of materials and shader workflows Excellent communication and problem-solving skills Interpersonal and organizational skills Proficient in written and spoken English When you're a bonus Interest in open world survival games An indie mentality of initiative, flexibility and proactive problem solving An education within a relevant field About Apog Labs Who we are Founded in 2017 and the developers of ATMOSFAR and Airport CEO , were a growing studio of 16 developers with our roots stemming from indie game development and brand new offices in the heart of Malmö, Sweden. We strive towards an inclusive, collaborative, and relaxed work environment enabling us to empower our games with gameplay experiences leaving lasting memories. We enjoy making elegant design choices, effective iterations and prioritize development agility across our entire production pipeline. We develop systems-driven game experiences mixed with a significant portion of imagination and wonder, resulting in games that are equally as fun to develop as playing. How to apply Please apply with a resume, short cover letter and link to your online portfolio, all together demonstrating why we would be a great match for each other. If you're the right person for the job we want to hear from you and we encourage applications from all suitable candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category. Applications will be reviewed continuously so apply today; starting date will be set to as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot offer any relocation package or assist with immigration. Thanks!