Machine Learning Artist / Technical Director - VFX

Job Description

El Ranchito is looking for a Machine Learning Artist / Technical Director who combines strong visual judgement with coding and applied machine-learning skills.

Reporting to the Machine Learning Supervisor, this is a hands-on, production-facing role focused on using ML to solve real VFX challenges. The position sits between artistry, pipeline development and applied machine learning: understanding how high-quality visual effects are created while having the technical ability to build, adapt and troubleshoot the tools behind them.

This is not a role focused solely on generating images with existing tools. We are looking for someone who can understand a production problem, investigate possible technical solutions, build or adapt a workflow, evaluate its limitations and help artists use it successfully on real work.

Candidates may come from any VFX department—including compositing, FX or Lighting. Professional experience as a production VFX artist or artist-facing TD is strongly preferred.

Exceptional ML candidates without a traditional VFX background may also be considered if they demonstrate outstanding technical depth, strong visual judgement and highly relevant work in image, video, 3D or other areas directly applicable to VFX production.

The role is open to candidates based in Spain.

Qualifications

• Professional production experience as a VFX artist or artist-facing TD in at least one department is strongly preferred.
• A strong reel, portfolio or body of work demonstrating visual judgement and technical problem-solving.
• Practical experience applying machine learning, computer vision or generative models to image, video, geometry or related media.
• Strong Python skills and experience creating maintainable production tools.
• Familiarity with Git, APIs, package and environment management, and reproducible development practices.
• Experience with an ML framework such as PyTorch or equivalent.
• A working understanding of model inference, datasets, evaluation, fine-tuning and GPU-based processing.
• Experience integrating tools into at least one major VFX application or production pipeline is highly valued.
• A solid understanding of production imagery, including colour, dynamic range, resolution, compositing requirements and temporal consistency.
• Strong visual judgement and the ability to respond constructively to creative direction.
• A generalist mindset and the ability to move comfortably between creative, technical and pipeline challenges.
• The ability to explain technical ideas and limitations clearly to artists, supervisors and production teams.
• Full professional fluency in spoken and written English, with confidence collaborating across international teams and time zones.
• Candidates must be based within the European Union for the duration of the role. Spain is preferred but not essential.

Candidates without a traditional VFX background may still be considered if they demonstrate an exceptional track record in relevant applied ML work, together with a strong visual portfolio and a clear understanding of the quality and control required for professional image production.

Valuable Additional Experience

• Nuke, Houdini, Maya, Blender, Unreal Engine or other VFX and DCC applications.
• ComfyUI or other node-based ML workflow systems.
• OpenCV, Diffusers or related computer-vision and generative-media frameworks.
• C++, CUDA or model and inference optimisation.
• Linux, containers, cloud or render-farm infrastructure.
• USD, OpenColorIO, ACES, EXR and high-dynamic-range image workflows.
• Segmentation, matting, tracking, depth estimation, reconstruction, inpainting, relighting, denoising or upscaling.
• Video generation, optical flow and temporal consistency techniques.
• Dataset preparation, model training or distributed inference.
• Artist-facing UI or web development.
• Open-source contributions, publications or research with a clear application to VFX production.

Additional Information

Please include a CV, reel or portfolio, and examples of relevant technical work.

These may include code samples, open-source contributions, tools, workflow demonstrations or concise case studies explaining the production problem, your individual contribution, the approach taken, its limitations and the final result.

We understand that production work is often confidential. Please do not share restricted material; a clear written breakdown of your role and approach is equally valuable.

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