Senior Technical Artist, Characters

CD PROJEKT RED is seeking a Senior Technical Artist with a focus on Characters Lookdev to join their Warsaw team for The Witcher 4. This role requires advanced artistic and technical skills, attention to detail, and a passion for creating expressive, high-quality characters that meet visual and performance goals. The artist will collaborate across disciplines to push real-time character creation, focusing on shader development, tool building, rendering optimization, and pipeline challenges.

Must Have

• Create and maintain key character shaders (custom code, Unreal Engine Material Editor) with optimization focus.
• Utilize C++ and Unreal Engine for robust tools and technical pipelines.
• Apply strong rendering knowledge for visual fidelity and performance/memory profiling.
• Fine-tune materials and shaders under different lighting conditions, collaborating with lighting team.
• Build tools and workflows using Blueprints and C++ integration.
• Identify and resolve pipeline challenges, support asset optimization, and ensure smooth delivery.
• Explore and implement new Unreal Engine features, collaborating with engineers and Epic Games.
• Mentor teammates and foster a supportive, collaborative tech art culture.
• At least 5 years of experience in a technical art role within game development.
• Proficiency with Unreal Engine 5, including shader development and system integration.
• Experience with 3D content creation software (e.g. Blender, Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter).
• Tool development experience using C++.
• Experienced in shader creation and optimization (code and Material Editor), preferably with character, skin and cloth materials.
• Experience with HLSL.
• Understanding of different lighting techniques in Unreal.
• Strong understanding of rendering systems and techniques.
• Skilled in performance and memory profiling.
• Track record of solving complex technical challenges and debugging with precision.
• Self-motivated, goal-driven, and experienced in taking ownership of high-impact tasks.
• Strong cross-disciplinary collaboration and communication skills.
• Comfortable communicating in English in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.

Good to Have

• Experience in creating tools using Blueprints.
• Knowledge of the character creation pipeline.
• Proficient in material creation.
• Skilled in Python scripting.
• Familiar with Substance Painter and Substance Designer.

Perks & Benefits

• Relocation package (flight ticket, company apartment for first month, pet relocation, shipping belongings).
• Relocation assistance (legalization operations, finding residence, tax settlements).
• Polish lessons for foreign employees and their spouse/partner.
• Life insurance (comprehensive pension and insurance plans).
• Annual budget for medical expenses (for those working outside Poland).
• Psychological and psychiatrist care (free mental health support and well-being webinars).
• Paid Leave (20 to 26 days of holiday per year, and paid sick leave).
• Gym Membership Reimbursement.
• Menstrual Leave (one extra day off each month for period pain).
• RED Parents Network (support for working parents, childcare benefits, family-friendly events).
• Flexible working hours (start workday anytime between 8 and 10 AM CET).
• Access to cafeteria platform for vouchers and codes to shops, cinemas, and public transport reimbursement.
• Training, lectures and courses (internal workshops, external training, knowledge-sharing, online tutorials, e-learning classes).
• Gifts for newborn rebels and regular chances to nab cool swag.
• Dog-friendly office.
• Regular social events at the studio.
• Healthy meal selections in canteens.
• Truly international working environment.
• Electric car charging points, green zones on campus.
• Designated space for bicycles, bicycle repair equipment, and showers.
• Onsite, well-equipped gym with a climbing wall, daily Gym Assistant support, and yoga and boxing classes.
• No dress-code.

Company Description

To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers — this is our mission. Want to dive deeper into our company’s culture? Explore our social media and check out our YouTube channel and Beyond the Game Blog where we share behind-the-scenes insights and stories direct from our team members!

Job Description

CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Senior Technical Artist with a focus on Characters Lookdev to join our team in Warsaw to work on The Witcher 4. You’ll bring advanced skills—both artistic and technical—along with attention to detail and a passion for crafting expressive, high-quality characters that meet our ambitious visual and performance goals. This role offers the chance to collaborate closely with developers across disciplines to push what's possible in real-time character creation.

Daily Responsibilities

• Create and maintain key character shaders, encompassing both custom shader code and work within the Unreal Engine Material Editor, with a strong focus on optimization.
• Utilize C++ and deep Unreal Engine experience to build robust tools and support technical pipelines.
• Apply strong rendering knowledge to ensure visual fidelity and conduct detailed performance / memory profiling to identify and resolve bottlenecks.
• Fine tune materials and shaders to behave correctly under different lighting conditions. Discuss, collaborate and feedback with the lighting team and other technical artists.
• Build tools and workflows to empower content creators, leveraging both Blueprints and C++ integration.
• Identify and resolve pipeline challenges, support asset optimization, and ensure smooth delivery across all target platforms.
• Explore and implement new Unreal Engine features, collaborating closely with engineers and Epic Games to expand what's possible in real-time content creation.
• Mentor teammates and help foster a supportive, collaborative tech art culture where curiosity, knowledge-sharing, and experimentation are encouraged.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience in a technical art role within game development.
• Proficiency with Unreal Engine 5, including shader development and system integration.
• Experience with 3D content creation software (e.g. Blender, Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter).
• Tool development experience using C++.
• Experienced in shader creation and optimization (both in code and within Material Editor) preferably with some experience with character, skin and cloth, related materials.
• Experience with HLSL.
• Understanding of different lighting techniques in Unreal, released and experimental.
• Strong understanding of rendering systems and techniques.
• Skilled in performance and memory profiling.
• Track record of solving complex technical challenges and debugging with precision.
• Self-motivated, goal-driven, and experienced in taking ownership of high-impact tasks.
• Strong cross-disciplinary collaboration and communication skills.
• Comfortable communicating in English in a collaborative, cross-functional environment.

Nice to have

• Experience in creating tools using Blueprints
• Knowledge of the character creation pipeline
• Proficient in material creation
• Skilled in Python scripting
• Familiar with Substance Painter and Substance Designer

Please include a portfolio that showcases your technical art contributions and, if possible, code samples or relevant tools/scripts that demonstrate your problem-solving and development skills.

Additional Information

Working mode

• Office-First: working primarily from the Warsaw office. Our team works primarily from our Warsaw office, so we give priority to candidates who are open to relocating to Poland.
• For selected roles, remote work from within Europe may be considered.

Relocation Support

• Relocation package – flight ticket, company apartment for your first month, relocating your pet, shipping your belongings — it’s all covered.
• Relocation assistance — processing your legalization operations for you, assistance with finding residence, tax settlements — all you need to feel right at home is taken care of.
• Polish lessons for foreign employees — and for your spouse or partner, too.

Health & Well-Being

• Life insurance — comprehensive pension and insurance plans to protect you and your loved ones.
• Annual budget for medical expenses (for those working outside Poland).
• Psychological and psychiatrist care — free mental health support and various well-being webinars.
• Paid Leave — from 20 to 26 days of holiday for every team member per year, and paid sick leave.
• Gym Membership Reimbursement.
• Menstrual Leave — employees who menstruate can take one extra day off each month when experiencing period pain.
• RED Parents Network — support for working parents, including childcare benefits, and family-friendly events.

Perks & Professional Growth

• Flexible working hours — start your workday anytime between 8 and 10 AM (CET).
• REDs have access to the cafeteria platform through which they can receive vouchers and codes to shops, cinemas, and public transport reimbursement.
• Training, lectures and courses — internal workshops, external training for each employee, knowledge-sharing initiatives, online tutorials, and e-learning classes are all available. There’s always something to learn!
• Gifts for newborn rebels and regular chances to nab some cool swag!

Social Activities & Life in the Office

• Dog-friendly office — bring your pooch with you and look after them while working! There’s always a furry friend or two to meet at the studio.
• Social events — we host regular gatherings at the studio where we can all unwind, play games, and just have some fun together.
• Healthy selections — ​​our canteens offer a range of healthy meals.
• Truly international working environment — a chance to meet and work with a diverse selection of people from all around the world.
• Sustainability is an ongoing commitment for us, and our campus has electric car charging points, green zones, and much more. Read all about it on our Beyond the Game Blog.
• A designated space for your bicycle, as well as bicycle repair equipment and showers available whenever you need them.
• An onsite, well-equipped gym with a climbing wall, daily Gym Assistant support, and yoga and boxing classes.
• No dress-code — we like to keep it casual.

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