Lead VFX Artist

As an Art Lead at Riot, you will bring worlds to life through your vision, craft, and leadership. You’ll help define the next generation of VFX art at Riot, build and guide a team of talented artists, and your craft execution will stand as an example to the team. With your experience you’ll create aesthetically astounding visuals that communicate essential gameplay information. Beyond art, you will be accountable for your team’s artistic quality, performance, and growth.

As a Lead VFX Artist on an Unpublished R&D Project you will be responsible for building and managing the VFX team to meet and support the game-wide art direction. You’ll work closely with other art and design leaders on the team to build towards a unified vision while owning and informing the VFX space, and make calls on how it contributes towards that vision. As this is a pre-production role, you will also focus on developing a new art style and pipeline that will serve as the foundation for the project’s long-term artistic vision. You will report into the Art Director.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with the Art Director to define style benchmarks that will meet the needs of the product and players
• Develop the VFX art style and aesthetic through in-game work, style guides, best practices and communication with the team. Lead and leverage the VFX team to high quality execution on the art style
• Contribute to key pre-production tasks, such as defining artistic benchmarks, testing technical solutions, establishing performance benchmarks, and establishing the foundational vision for VFX art
• A strong understanding of the VFX workflow to support efforts for improvements and surface pain points
• Provide craft mentorship and guidance to level up VFX artists on the team to work towards artistic and career goals
• Work with Design, Engineering, and Product Owners to understand their goals and how VFX can support them. Lead the collaborative process with Design and any other groups that require it
• Own hiring manager responsibilities and create succession plans including onboarding accountability for new additions to future proof teams VFX needs
• Work with OS supervisors to maintain successful craft discipline integration of outsource vendors.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional experience as a VFX Artist or Lead VFX Artist in the gaming industry
• 1+ years of professional experience in a management role for senior developers
• Professional expertise in handpainted stylized VFX
• High proficiency in VFX development, including fundamentals like timing, shape language, color theory and mesh engineering
• Experience working cross discipline to create production ready pipelines and standards
• Experience working with modern game engines such as Unity, Unreal, or proprietary technologies

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working on a highly recognizable stylized game
• Experience working in pre-production for at least one game title
• Experience giving direction and delivering clear, constructive feedback to vendors

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this is the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.