Technical Art Manager, Pokémon GO

5 Months ago • 3 Years + • Technical Art • $156,500 PA - $183,000 PA

Job Summary

Job Description

The Technical Art Manager at Pokémon GO will lead a team, plan creative processes, and collaborate with cross-functional partners. Responsibilities include mentoring team members, defining strategies, managing schedules, anticipating production issues, and fostering Niantic's culture. The role requires strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, along with expertise in graphics-focused technical art and game development tools. The successful candidate will ensure the visual quality and performance of Pokémon GO while upholding the brand's integrity.
Must have:
  • Lead Technical Art teams
  • Project management experience
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Problem-solving & troubleshooting
  • Graphics expertise
  • Cross-functional collaboration
Good to have:
  • Technical Artist experience
  • Live game environment experience
  • Pokémon GO player
  • Bilingual (English/Japanese)
Perks:
  • Bonus
  • Equity
  • Benefits

Job Details

Pokémon GO is the global gaming sensation that has been downloaded over 1 billion times and named “Best Mobile Game” by the Game Developers Choice Awards and “Best App of the Year” by TechCrunch. Pokémon GO follows Niantic’s mission of encouraging outdoor exploration, exercise, and significant social interactions, and has grossed over $6B in revenue since its debut in 2016. In order to delight our millions of players across the globe, the Pokémon GO team requires motivated and skilled individuals to develop new features and look for creative ways to optimize a continually growing game.

We are seeking a Technical Art Manager to lead part of our Technical Art team and plan for our creative process from rapid prototyping to final production for release. We are a fast-moving, multi-disciplinary team of developers and creative professionals based in San Francisco, Seattle, Sunnyvale, and Tokyo. You will be people managing Technical Artists that focus on graphics and visual development, build and design pipelines and tooling, generalists with broad experience, and optimize the project to uphold performance for Pokémon GO. You will also collaborate with cross-functional partners for coordinating and driving both short and long-term planning on behalf of the Technical Art team.

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with Technical Art, Art, Game Design, and UX Design leadership giving guidance and feedback for healthy and sustainable development practices.
  • Regular and reliable attendance and participation in meetings.
  • Build consensus with cross-functional leaders across Production and Engineering.
  • Provide leadership and be the strongest advocate for the Technical Art team.
  • Develop, mentor, and support team members for their work and career progression.
  • Define strategy, priorities, and resource allocation decisions that achieve product goals while supporting design aesthetics, technical pipeline standards, performance targets, and brand integrity.
  • Build and manage team schedules and ensure proper workflow throughout the Technical Art department.
  • Anticipate and recognize potential production issues and recommend appropriate solutions.
  • Foster Niantic’s culture and principles within the group, while setting new standards in executional and operational excellence.
  • Required in-office 2 days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Qualifications

  • Demonstrated ability with 3+ years leading or managing Technical Art teams in a dynamically changing production environment.
  • Empathetic leader and supporter for the Technical Art team and workflows.
  • Project management experience in PC, console, or mobile game development, or other industries such as CG production and animation using software such as Jira.
  • Demonstrated success in creating a collaborative culture of Design, Product, and Engineering.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal and analytical skills with emphasis on communicating clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization.
  • Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills, organizational skills, and attention to detail.
  • Previous expertise in graphics focused areas of Technical Art.
  • Familiarity with the tools and technology of game art production for areas such as game engine software, modeling, rigging, animation, shaders, VFX, UI, and debugging/profiling for optimization.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced hybrid environment and handle stress appropriately and/or ability to solve practical problems and be sufficiently adaptable to handle dynamic situations with little advance notice. 
  • Experience working on cross-functional teams with ability to communicate effectively through written and verbal communications, including asynchronous interactions with others.
  • Experience working with geographically distributed teams.

Plus If...

  • Experience as a Technical Artist or background in game development, graphics engineering, pipelines and tooling, or content creation.
  • Experience in live game environments.
  • Actively or previously played Pokémon GO.
  • Passion for games, AR, or location-based experiences.
  • Bilingual in English and Japanese.

The total compensation package for this position includes a new hire offer base salary range of $156,500.00 - $183,000.00 + bonus + equity + benefits.

Individual pay within this salary range is determined by work location and additional factors, including assessed job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can answer any questions about new hire total compensation during the hiring process. An overview of benefit offerings for your location can be found on the careers page.

Join the Niantic team!

Niantic's global-scale augmented reality platform and digital map powers spatial computing experiences in the real world. Incubated out of the Maps team at Google, Niantic first created Ingress and then Pokémon GO, a cultural phenomenon and hit game played by tens of millions of people each month. Niantic’s Lightship platform, which powers Pokémon GO, also supports the company's other games including Pikmin Bloom, Peridot and Monster Hunter Now. Developers use Niantic’s platform to build their own AR applications and experiences, either with the Lightship Platform or directly through the web with 8th Wall.

We believe that cultivating a workplace where our people are supported and included is essential to creating great products our community will love. Our mission emphasizes seeking and hiring diverse voices, including those who are traditionally underrepresented in the technology industry, and we consider this to be one of the most important values we hold close.

Niantic is a hybrid first company. We believe that in person interaction and collaboration fosters creativity, a sense of community, and is critical to our future success as a company. Our hybrid work schedules allow for a mix of remote and in-office work.

We're a hard-working, fun, and exciting group who value intellectual curiosity and a passion for problem-solving! We have growing offices located in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Bellevue, Kansas, London, Tokyo, Hamburg, Hyderabad, and Zürich. #LI-HYBRID

Similar Jobs

Smilegate - Head of IT Infrastructure/Service Operations

Smilegate

Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Epic Games - Animation Producer

Epic Games

Porto Alegre, State Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Boomi  - Senior Quality Engineer

Boomi

Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, United States (Remote)
4 Weeks ago
luxsoft - Software Developer (Java/BigData)

luxsoft

Singapore (On-Site)
4 Weeks ago
RoofStack - Senior Product Owner

RoofStack

Istanbul, İstanbul, Türkiye (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Kepler Interactive - Senior Environment Tech Artist

Kepler Interactive

Montréal, Occitanie, France (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Ubisoft - Lead Technical Artist

Ubisoft

Annecy, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Techland - Art Director

Techland

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland (On-Site)
1 Year ago
Ubisoft - Engine Programmer [Snowdrop]

Ubisoft

Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania (Hybrid)
8 Months ago
Nintendo - Contract UI Artist II

Nintendo

Redmond, Washington, United States (Hybrid)
2 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Similar Skill Jobs

Newzoo - Product Manager - Business & Store Intelligence

Newzoo

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands (Hybrid)
2 Months ago
LTI Mindtree - Software Developer II - Device Support & Integration

LTI Mindtree

Mexico (On-Site)
1 Month ago
warner bros games - Senior Technical Program Manager

warner bros games

(Hybrid)
5 Months ago
Rackspace Technology - Data Architect

Rackspace Technology

Vietnam (Remote)
3 Months ago
fluence - Test Engineer (m/f/d) - German speaker

fluence

Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany (Hybrid)
8 Months ago
Radical Forge - UI/UX Designer

Radical Forge

Middlesbrough, England, United Kingdom (Remote)
3 Weeks ago
Jam City - Producer

Jam City

Montevideo, Montevideo Department, Uruguay (On-Site)
11 Months ago
Ion - Social Media Manager - 722

Ion

Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Cadence - Sr. Software Security Engineer

Cadence

Cork, County Cork, Ireland (On-Site)
3 Weeks ago
design works gaming - Project Manager, Operations

design works gaming

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Jobs in Bellevue, Washington, United States

Netflix - Research Scientist (L6) - Identity Algorithms

Netflix

Los Gatos, California, United States (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Ion - Senior Business Consultant - RightAngle

Ion

Houston, Texas, United States (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Interactive Brokers - Tax Manager – International Tax Compliance

Interactive Brokers

Greenwich, Connecticut, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
tic toe games - Senior Game Producer

tic toe games

Burbank, California, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago
Meetelise - Sales Development Representative - Housing

Meetelise

New York, New York, United States (On-Site)
8 Months ago
Interactive Brokers - Analyst - Quality Assurance Financial Crime Compliance

Interactive Brokers

Chicago, Illinois, United States (Hybrid)
1 Month ago
Internet Brands - Senior Business Intelligence Analyst

Internet Brands

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Gigamon - Sr. Principal Hardware Engineer

Gigamon

Santa Clara, California, United States (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Mattel Inc - American Girl Merchandise Handler

Mattel Inc

California, United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Rockstar Games - Senior Software Engineer (C#)

Rockstar Games

New York, United States (On-Site)
1 Month ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded

Technical Art Jobs

Ubisoft - Technical Lead _ Rainbow Six

Ubisoft

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Riot Games - Senior Technical Artist (Rendering) - VALORANT, UI/UX

Riot Games

Los Angeles, California, United States (On-Site)
5 Months ago
PlatinumGames - Visual Effects Artist

PlatinumGames

Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Track vfx - Vancouver | Technical Artist

Track vfx

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (On-Site)
9 Months ago
Ubisoft - Senior Technical Artist (MOSAIC)

Ubisoft

Singapore, Singapore (On-Site)
2 Months ago
Tencent - Technical Art Expert (Games), Venture Lab

Tencent

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands (On-Site)
4 Months ago
Epic Games - Senior Technical Artist

Epic Games

United States (On-Site)
2 Months ago
limit break - Technical Artist (Japan)

limit break

Tokyo, Japan (On-Site)
3 Months ago
Owlcat Games - Technical Artist (Cinematics)

Owlcat Games

Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus (Hybrid)
3 Months ago
Blazing Griffin - Tools Programmer (Games)

Blazing Griffin

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
6 Months ago

Get notifed when new similar jobs are uploaded