Art Director

Job Description

PLAY, GROW and WIN

To be a part of Virtuos means to be a creator.

At Virtuos, we harness the latest technologies to make games better and more immersive than ever before. That is why we pride ourselves in constantly pushing the boundaries of possibility since our founding in 2004.

Virtuosi is a team of experts – people who have come together to share their mutual passion for making and playing games. People with the same enthusiasm for exploring new ideas and the constant drive to excel in their field. People who believe in earning success through dedication.

At Virtuos, we are at the forefront of gaming, creating exciting new experiences daily. Join us to Play, Grow and Win – together.

About The Position

Company Overview: Black Shamrock – a Virtuos Studio is the leading AAA games studio in Ireland, dedicated to delivering immersive and groundbreaking gaming experiences on our own projects and in collaboration with our AAA partners. With a passion for pushing the boundaries of the industry, we pride ourselves on fostering creativity, innovation, and excellence in our teams. Already the largest games studio in Ireland, we are looking to grow our team to take on even more ambitious, large-scale creative projects.

Position Overview: We are seeking a dynamic and visionary Art Director to lead a team through the full development cycle from initial concept to final release. This is a pivotal role for the studio and will be instrumental in driving the expansion of the creative capabilities of our studio towards ambitious, large-scale full-development projects. We are looking for someone with a proven track record as creative director on successful, critically-acclaimed AAA titles.

Responsibilities

• Manage a team or teams of artists of various ranks and disciplines on a wide spectrum of projects.
• Establish and clearly communicate the art vision to the team.
• Collaborate with Design, Engineering and Art teams to make recommendations and decisions regarding overall art vision.
• Establish and/or improve art production pipeline in coordination with other disciplines and clients.
• Manage communication with the team and clients on artistic and technical matters.
• Work closely with Production to ensure risks are being identified and tracked and assist in the creation and overall management of the art schedule and resource plans.
• Ensure that deliverables are of expected artistic and technical standards.
• Propose cohesive and holistic solutions to problems.
• Be effective writer and speaker at briefing, critiquing, discussion, reportage and problem solving.
• Foster positivity and team spirit for building up a strongly bound and cohesive team.
• Identify and nurture new or sprouting talents, participate in recruitment and planning for expansion and employees’ career growth.
  
  
  

Qualifications

• At least 10 years’ games industry experience including AAA titles across major platforms with a proven shipping record.
• Broad knowledge spanning different art disciplines, including concept, characters, props and environments, lighting, VFX and UI.
• Thorough understanding of interactive entertainment methodology and the video game production pipeline.
• Experience in managing creative teams and ability to collaborate effectively with other disciplines.
• Extensive experience and knowledge of art processes, production pipelines and optimisation.
• Excellent eye for graphical quality and knowledge of techniques used to achieve visual targets.
• Ability to foster a dynamic and collaborative team environment.
• Excellent decision-making capabilities.
• Passionate about game development and able to exercise game sensibility when making artistic decisions.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts, Graphic Design or related major preferred, but outstanding portfolios and a proven industry record will also be considered.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
  
  
  

Please Note

• Meeting all the criteria is not mandatory. We try to be mindful and not set unrealistic expectations to be met in order to apply. If you don’t tick all of the boxes of the role, we encourage you to apply anyway.
  
  
  

About Us

Founded in 2004, Virtuos is one of the largest independent video game development companies. We are headquartered in Singapore with over 3,500 employees across 22 offices in Asia, Europe, and North America. Specializing in full-cycle game development and art production, we have delivered high-quality content for more than 1,500 console, PC, and mobile games. Our clients include 23 of the top 25 gaming companies worldwide. Visit www.virtuosgames.com to find out how we can make games better, together.

About Our Team

Black Shamrock was founded in 2016 and acquired by the Virtuos Group in 2017. The studio is Ireland’s largest PC and console game development studio and provides unique opportunities to work on multiple AAA titles. Our people are as diverse, exciting, creative, and dynamic as the projects that we work on. Black Shamrock is a place for talent to flourish and lifelong industry connections to begin.

Our in-house and full-service capabilities include narrative, game, sound and level design, animation, art, rigging, engineering, and graphics, to name a few areas our skilled team members work on. At Black Shamrock, we take pride in helping put Dublin on the world map as the birthplace of award-winning AAA games.

About The Team

• Being part of one of the largest and fastest-growing game development studios in Ireland
• Dynamic career paths contributing to some of the world’s biggest AAA titles in gaming
• Opportunities to grow in a tight-knit community with a people-oriented culture
• Healthy work-life balance and flexible work arrangements
• Comprehensive company healthcare plan
• Occupational Pension Scheme (including employer contribution)
• Global training and development plans - study support, formal education, international experience, career planning and progression opportunities
• Bank for paid sick leave and wellness leave
• Subsidised leave
• Relocation support
• Taxsaver plans
• Career and international mobility opportunities with Virtuos Internal Mobility Program
  
  
  

People matter. Diverse opinions and experiences matter. At Virtuos, our talented teams are the cornerstone of our success, and we recognize that fostering and advocating for inclusivity is at the center of what we do best - we make games better, together. Virtuos is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity of thought, expression, culture, and backgrounds.