Lead Technical Artist

Lead Technical Artist 

 **This role sits out of our Toronto, Ontario Studio or our Austin, Texas Studio - No international relo . NO locations approved outside of the United States or Canada and must be located in an approved state or province***

Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about working on our new original IP? Certain Affinity is the largest independent developer in Texas, based out of Austin, and we have a growing presence in Toronto, Canada. Our culture reflects the values and the vibrant nature of the cities we call home. This includes a commitment to evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We are also excited to be the latest recipient of the Canadian Studio of the Year award. We're best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating compelling new games of our own. We're always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team.

As Lead Technical Artist at Certain Affinity, you’ll work with a small team of technical artists, supporting the creation of the content for our various projects and building tools to make that work more efficient and effective. You’ll have opportunities to work with a wide variety of content, on many different codevelopment and internal projects.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Collaborate with the other technical artists in the team, and be a source of inspiration and knowledge that other members in the team can rely on
• Drive the pipeline and tools discussion for the technical art team, in close collaboration with other stakeholders
• Very proficient at Python scripting and experience collaborating on tool development, iteration, and UI development
• Seek ways to improve and streamline art pipelines, drive quality, and improve team efficiency
• Work closely with other senior members in various disciplines, such as environment art, VFX, lighting, UI, and materials
• Spot content issues at an early stage and also plan ahead for the tools the team will need, based on the content coming down the various pipelines
• R&D of new technology our projects might require in Unreal
• Push the boundaries of aesthetic quality while maintaining and enforcing project performance
• Display a high level of mentorship abilities and willingness to support and train the junior members in the team
• Thorough understanding of art pipelines and their impact on real-time performance
• Able to use and modify performance tools in order to accurately determine core causes of performance issues and provide solutions

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• 6+ years experience in game industry, specifically supporting art teams on game projects
• Expertise with Unreal Engine 5+, Nanite & Lumen, DCC apps and tools
• Experience establishing and driving new workflows for content creation
• Shipped 2+ titles as a technical artist
• Experience mentoring other technical artists
• A strong foundation of Python scripting for extending content creation tools and automating tasks
• Strong mentorship abilities
• Possess an approachable, customer-oriented demeanor
• Strong communication skills and desire to collaborate with art, design, and engineering

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Solid understanding of the aesthetics of the environment, function vs. form relationships, as well as what makes a game level fun and engaging
• Excellent communication skills to easily collaborate with art, design, and engineering teams
• Expert-level knowledge of MAX, Maya, or other 3D software packages
• Solid grasp of performance requirements and constraints of current generation console and PC development
• Understanding of the construction and application of PBR materials and material software such as Substance Designer
• Excellent understanding of art pipelines and workflow
• Must be able to demonstrate a proactive attitude when it comes to problem-solving, communication and project support