Lead Tech Artist

Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities? Would you like to work on something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters? Do you think a lot about how modular rigging systems enable quick iteration, how streamlined DCC pipelines empower artists, or how to achieve feature-quality character animation within real-time constraints?

As a Tech Art Lead on an Unannounced Project, you'll collaborate closely with the art team to bring iconic characters to life from prototype through production for a completely new world at PlayStation. Your ability to craft exceptional character rigs and efficient art workflows with a high degree of autonomy will delight animators and contribute to a class-leading action game!

As a member of our tight-knit art team, you'll balance craft expertise with a player-first mindset and willingness to contribute beyond your role to improve the prototype experience. Your understanding of animation and technical constraints will enable you to deliver functional and innovative rigs without an established pipeline during prototyping, and then to help us build a scalable pipeline for production. Most importantly, you will work with a fun, diverse, and passionate cross-discipline team devoted to building a new universe from scratch.

We look for candidates who value joining a mission-focused team with a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and viewpoints.

RESPONSIBILITIES

* Lead the Tech Art discipline & define the team's goals while also contributing directly as an IC in early stages of the project

* Build and manage the Technical Art team, including mentoring and management of internal Tech Artists and overseeing external Tech Art work

* Work closely with the Art Director to find innovative methods for bringing the team's artistic vision to screen

* Deliver art vision into the game & collaborate cross team to define where performance meets visual fidelity

* Ensure visual aspects of the game are performant across all platforms (PC, console)

* Excited to collaborate with project leadership to define and oversee the Technical Art roadmap, working cross team with technical artists, animators & designers to inform these decisions

* Create custom tools to enhance the game's visual fidelity and performance.

* Develop and refine workflows and pipelines that boost production efficiency and foster team collaboration.

* Introduce new features to the art team by showcasing examples, giving presentations, and producing relevant documentation.

* Engage in proactive communication with all stakeholders to ensure shared objectives and preemptively manage any challenges.

REQUIRED SKILLS

* Experience in Rigging/ Workflow & pipeline creation/ supervision

* Production experience with standard content creation tools such as Maya, Substance Painter, and Photoshop as well as professional experience using Python

* Ability to independently translate art team goals into creative solutions with a thorough understanding of cost, efficiency, and quality tradeoffs

* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team environment

* Experience in producing clear, concise, and accurate technical documentation, with the ability to simplify complex topics

* Experience in managing and resolving stability, performance, and memory issues across different platforms.

* Experience with Unreal Engine

* Experience managing external resources effectively

* Experience shipping across multiple platforms (PC, console)

Nice to have Skills

* Ability to creatively solve problems for a wide variety of asks during R+D, as demonstrated by prior success in incubation environments

* Ability to create unique custom shaders and effects that are efficient, scalable and deliver on the team's vision.

* Ability to create and hook up gameplay VFX assets

* Experience creating/managing modular environment systems