Senior Technical Artist

Description

• Leadership is demonstrated by empowering and guiding employees to reach their full potential while working towards a clear goal.  
• Making games is a team sport best done through planning, iteration, and collaboration. 
• Predictability and creativity are not mutually exclusive.  
• Providing opportunities to the next generation of developers is critical to the long-term health of the studio and the industry in general.   

• You have a proven track record of contributing to shipped games as a Technical Artist. 
• Your portfolio showcases your proficiency in character rigging, skinning, and implementing animation blueprints in Unreal Engine. 
• You are independent, motivated, and self-aware. 
• You possess a deep understanding of character anatomy, motion principles, and technical constraints to create efficient and expressive rigs. 
• You excel in driving technical art solutions from inception to completion, fostering close collaboration with colleagues across various disciplines. 
• You actively contribute feedback to enhance team tools and workflows, striving for continuous improvement and efficiency. 
• Your curiosity knows no bounds, recognizing that learning is a lifelong journey. You approach game development with an open mind, eagerly exploring new perspectives and techniques to enrich your craft.
• Your communication skills are exemplary, adept at both giving and receiving feedback with professionalism and tact, fostering a culture of accountability and mutual respect.
• You are deeply passionate about nurturing and guiding fellow artists and technical artists, regardless of their skill level, fostering an environment where creativity and growth flourish. 

• Design, create, and maintain high-quality rigs for characters and creatures, ensuring they meet animation and gameplay requirements. 
• Collaborate closely with Animators and Modelers to ensure rigs are intuitive and efficient, enhancing the overall animation process. 
• Work with the Character Art and Engineering teams to help define technical pipelines and best practices for rigging and animation integration in Unreal Engine. 
• Develop and optimize animation blueprints, ensuring seamless integration of character animations within Unreal Engine. 
• Collaborate in establishing streamlined workflows and optimal practices specific to rigging and animation, fostering efficiency and quality. 
• Offer insights and suggestions for refining workflows and implementing best practices within the technical art discipline, contributing to ongoing improvement. 
• Help prototype the early version of the game and set up foundational pipelines for rigging and animation for the entire team. 
• Take an active role in building our art and technical art departments, mentoring new hires, and setting guidelines for working within the game’s engine. 
• Contribute to defining the art and technical art team’s processes and champion the studio’s core values. 

• 5+ years of experience as a Technical Artist. 
• Mastery of Unreal 4/5 as it relates to Technical Art. 
• Self-driven with excellent time management and communication skills. 
• Experience shipping at least one multi-platform AA or AAA game.  
• Present a portfolio or demo reel showcasing skills. 
• Demonstrate expertise in industry-standard software packages, and the ability to adapt to new software packages. 
• Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey ideas and collaborate with team members. 
• Experience with UE5’s control rig is a bonus. 
• Experience animating is a bonus. 
• Experience working in a start-up or early-stage studio environment is a bonus.  
• A desire to mentor, train, and work as a leader; having already had experience mentoring or training entry-level developers and/or students would be a bonus, but willingness to learn is required. 
• Must already live in the vicinity of Dallas, TX, or be willing to relocate.

• We provide a rich benefits package:
  • Medical Coverage - health, dental, and vision paid at 100% for the employee and dependents are subsidized by the Company.
  • Healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance.
  • 401(k) with an annual contribution by the Company.
  • Paid holidays and vacation, bereavement leaves, and parental leave.

• This is a full-time, benefits-eligible, exempt (salaried) position.
• The full salary range for this position is $95,000 - $138,000 per year. The upper third of the salary range is typically reserved for existing employees who demonstrate strong performance over time. When an offer is made, many factors are considered, such as your unique experience and skills, where you live, where the work will be performed, what similar jobs pay and internal equity.
• In addition to base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for additional incentives, such as short- and long-term incentives. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.