3D Modeler (Contract)

Role & Responsibilities

HAUS is seeking an experienced freelance 3D Modeler. The ideal person will be responsible for the following:

  • Build Production-Quality 3D Models: Create photoreal, production-ready models of complex deep tech products from scratch, working from CAD files, engineering drawings, technical references, and photos supplied by client engineering teams. Your models will represent everything from rocket motors and satellites to autonomous robots, semiconductors, and medical devices, and will need to hold up under close inspection by the engineers who designed the real things.

  • Model for Animation and Rendering: Build models with clean quad-mesh topology, thoughtful edge flow, and the articulation required for downstream animation and rendering. This includes modeling internal geometry revealed in cutaway or exploded-view sequences, articulating moving components correctly, and planning UV layouts that support high-fidelity materials and texturing.

  • Work from Technical References: Interpret engineering-grade references and translate them into models that are geometrically accurate enough to withstand engineering scrutiny while remaining efficient for offline and real-time rendering. When references are incomplete, you'll work directly with client engineering teams to close gaps and validate accuracy before advancing to texturing and materials.

  • Collaborate Across the 3D Pipeline: Partner closely with our art directors, animators, and lighting artists to make sure your models support the shots and sequences the team is planning. This means anticipating how your work will be used downstream and structuring your files, hierarchies, and naming conventions accordingly.

  • Iterate Through Review Cycles: Deliver gray-model reviews for client technical validation before texturing begins, then respond to feedback quickly and cleanly. You'll manage revision cycles without letting file bloat or version confusion slow the project down, and you're comfortable working through multiple rounds of engineering-driven refinement.

  • Handoff Clean, Organized Files: Deliver source files, exports, and documentation in an organized structure that downstream teammates or client internal teams can pick up without a lengthy handoff conversation. That includes native source files plus standard export formats (OBJ, FBX, GLB, USD) and preserved scene hierarchies with clear naming conventions.

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Requirements

  • Passion for Deep Tech: You must love deep tech and be genuinely excited by cutting-edge technologies.

  • Portfolio & Experience: Professional experience building production-quality 3D models for commercial, product visualization, industrial, or entertainment work. Your portfolio must demonstrate strong hard-surface and industrial modeling capabilities (mechanical systems, vehicles, products, architectural or engineering subjects) rather than organic or character-focused work.

  • Technical Proficiency: Expert-level modeling in Cinema 4D, Maya, Blender, or 3ds Max (or an equivalent industry-standard package). Deep understanding of polygon modeling, subdivision surfaces, and clean topology for animation. Comfort with UV unwrapping and preparing models for high-fidelity texturing and materials work.

  • Hard-Surface Modeling Expertise: Demonstrated command of hard-surface techniques including boolean workflows, panel and mechanical detailing, and accurate proportion and scale. You know how to build models that read as engineered products, not approximations, and you have an eye for the details that separate a professional asset from a hobbyist one.

  • Working from Technical References: Comfort reading and interpreting CAD files, engineering drawings, spec sheets, and photographic references. You can translate technical documentation into production-ready 3D geometry, and you know when to ask engineering teams for clarification rather than guess at scale, tolerance, or configuration.

  • Pipeline Awareness: Understanding of where your work sits in the broader 3D pipeline, including how models are used by lighting, texturing, animation, and rendering downstream. You build in a way that supports the whole team rather than optimizing only for your own step. Familiarity with USD workflows is a plus.

  • Attention to Detail: Precision matters. Our clients are engineers, and they notice when scale, geometry, or proportion is off. You take pride in models that pass scrutiny from the people who designed the real thing, and you don't need to be told twice when something is close but not right.

  • Communication & Teamwork: Excellent communication skills. You can talk to designers about visual intent and to engineers about technical accuracy, and you're comfortable moving between those registers. Since our team is distributed, you need to be comfortable working remotely, collaborating via Slack and Zoom, and proactively communicating status and blockers.

  • Tech Savvy & Curiosity: A genuine passion for technology and innovation is important. Our clients are building world-changing tech in AI, robotics, biotech, aerospace, and more. Your enthusiasm for these domains will help you build models that feel true to the technologies they represent.

  • Bonus Skills: Experience with Houdini, ZBrush for detailing, or Substance Painter and Designer for texturing is a plus. Familiarity with real-time rendering (Unreal Engine, Unity) or KeyShot and Marmoset for previewing is useful. Any prior work in aerospace, defense, robotics, semiconductors, medical devices, or industrial visualization will help you understand our clients faster.

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Preferences

About HAUS

HAUS is the world’s first integrated public relations and creative services agency purpose built for deep tech startups and scaleups. In January 2022, we set out on a mission to accelerate the adoption of technologies that maximize freedom, material abundance, and human flourishing. Since then, we’ve had the opportunity to support more than 100 startups, scaleups, venture firms, research labs, and other organizations in industries including artificial intelligence, aerospace, biotechnology, climate, defense, energy, advanced manufacturing, quantum computing, semiconductors, robotics, and more.

Salary Range

Compensation

Competitive; depends on experience and market rates

Location

Remote

Benefits

Submit Your Resume

The best candidates will have read this entire job description and apply via this portal with a short note showcasing their excellence in their craft and enthusiasm for the specific type of work we do at HAUS.

Please keep in mind that we receive an overwhelming number of submissions that are written by AI. If you keep your note human and show that you actually care about what we are doing specifically here at HAUS, this will be strongly considered along with your application.

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