Great location.
With the gate in the open position, they'll be pointing skyward but in every other scenario, this is a much better location than the lower bumper if we can find the right lights to fit the space. With bikes, trailers, nearly every backing up scenario, a higher mounted flood would work better than the lower bumper mount location. I'd love to find a location the flush mount Baja S2's would fit... May just have to make some "Rock Lights" work.
As for hatch open times, there are a million led interior light options to light the work space.