Lead 3D Artist

Buffalo Buffalo is a Vancouver-based game studio seeking a Lead 3D Artist to guide its art team in creating high-quality, stylized assets for upcoming titles. This role involves close collaboration with the Art Director, programmers, designers, and production team to define the visual identity of games. The artist will oversee the creation of stylized 3D assets, mentor a small team, establish pipelines, review asset quality, and ensure all 3D content is optimized for Unity, bridging disciplines to bring assets to life.

Must Have

• Create a variety of 3D assets for the game, primarily environment art
• Create high-quality stylized assets using Maya and Substance Painter/Designer
• Build materials compatible with shaders and art style in Unity
• Collaborate with the Art Director to maintain a cohesive art style
• Oversee asset optimization for Unity across PC, console, and VR platforms
• Develop and maintain 3D pipelines, documentation, and best practices
• Work closely with programmers to implement materials, shaders, LODs, lighting, and scene setups
• Communicate production needs clearly to project managers and tech leads
• Maintain accountability for deadlines, quality standards, and deliverables
• 4+ years of professional experience in 3D art for video games
• Strong proficiency in Maya and Substance Painter
• Demonstrated experience working in Unity (materials, lighting, shaders, profiling, optimization)
• Proven ability to create and guide highly stylized/cel-shaded art
• Strong understanding of topology, UVs, baking, PBR, and real-time performance constraints
• Experience building and maintaining art pipelines for small-to-mid sized teams

Good to Have

• Experience with shaders or procedural workflows
• Knowledge of rigging, skinning
• Any technical art skills
• Experience optimizing content for VR
• Familiarity with mobile, PC, and console performance profiles

is a future-forward game studio crafting unique, immersive experiences brimming with surprises. We’re looking for a Lead 3D Artist to guide our art team in building high-quality, stylized assets for our upcoming titles. You’ll collaborate closely with our Art Director, programmers, designers, and production team to shape the visual identity of our games while ensuring assets are optimized, performant, and ready for real-time Unity development.

Follow us on Bluesky or LinkedIn to stay up to date!

Role Overview:

As the 3D Artist, you will oversee the creation of stylized 3D assets while supporting and mentoring a small team of artists. You will help establish pipelines, review asset quality, and ensure all 3D content is optimized for Unity. You’ll also work closely with the Art Director to bridge the gap between disciplines and help bring our assets to life.

Let’s get the important stuff out of the way:

• Position: Full-Time (32 hours/week, 4 days/week)
• Salary: $70,000 - 73,5000 (CAD), based on experience
• Duration: 12 months, with possibility of extension
• Starting Date: Early 2026

What you’ll do:

• Creating a variety of 3D assets for our game, ranging from Environments, Characters and props, though the role will primarily be responsible for environment art.
• Create high-quality stylized assets using Maya and, Substance Painter/Designer, etc.
• Build materials that compatible with our shaders and art style in Unity (including stylized 3D workflows)
• Collaborate with the Art Director to maintain a cohesive art style across the project
• Oversee asset optimization for Unity, ensuring strong performance on PC, console, and VR platforms
• Develop and maintain 3D pipelines, documentation, and best practices
• Work closely with programmers to implement materials, shaders, LODs, lighting, and scene setups
• Communicate production needs clearly to project managers and tech leads
• Maintain accountability for deadlines, quality standards, and deliverables

What You Bring

• 4+ years of professional experience in 3D art for video games (shipped title preferred)
• Strong proficiency in Maya and Substance Painter (or equivalent tools)
• Demonstrated experience working in Unity, including materials, lighting, shaders, profiling, and optimization
• Proven ability to create and guide highly stylized/cel-shaded art
• Strong understanding of topology, UVs, baking, PBR, and real-time performance constraints
• Experience building and maintaining art pipelines for small-to-mid sized teams
• Excellent communication and accountability—you follow through, support the team, and drive clarity
• A portfolio showcasing stylized 3D work

Nice-to-Haves:

• Experience with shaders, or procedural workflows
• Knowledge of rigging, skinning
• Any technical art skillsExperience optimizing content for VR
• Familiarity with mobile, PC, and console performance profiles

How to apply:

• Submit your application and portfolio through our Job Application Form ➡️ here.
• Although we genuinely appreciate all interest, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.