Principal Technical Artist – Xbox Games Technology Group – The Coalition

Games continue to evolve and push the boundaries of entertainment as we know it. The bar to deliver world-class games continues to rise, driven by advantages in better hardware and software capabilities. Along with optimizing game development engines, developing infrastructure and workflows for efficient remote and hybrid development, brings new opportunities and engineering challenges that all studios are facing today. Solving these challenges is critical to enabling efficient hybrid teams as well as external globally distributed development partners who help scale during peak phases of development. At The Coalition Studio, through our work on the acclaimed Gears of War franchise, we are tackling these problems head-on by leading engine innovation, developing technical showcase technologies, and delivering world-class workflows, tools and features that are adopted across the wider Xbox Game Studios organization.

The Principal Technical Artist is responsible for supporting a content creation pipeline balancing ease of use, visual quality, and optimal performance. As a Principal Technical Artist in The Coalition. This opportunity will allow you to work directly with our Engine team in both developing and maintaining these systems but also help push and grow their adoption across Xbox Studios.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Graphic Design, Digital Arts, Technical Art, Game Design, or related field AND 6+ years technical art or industry-related design experience  
  • OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Graphic Design, Digital Arts, Technical Art, Game Design, or related field AND 4+ years technical art or industry-related design experience 
  • OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years' experience using related software and packages (e.g., Autodesk Maya, MotionBuilder, 3D Studio Max, Adobe Creative Suite, SideFX Houdini, Zbrush, Substance Suite).
• Shipped at lease one AAA game.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven track record of continuously improving content pipelines.
• Understanding of data driven art content pipelines.
• Understanding of Physically Based lighting and shading.
• Scripting experience. Python preferred.
• Has done material authoring for content creators.
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or equivalent is a huge plus.
• Experience using Maya a plus.

Technical Art IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across Canada is CAD $135,800 - CAD $253,000 per year.

Find additional pay information here:


Microsoft will accept applications for the role until January 7, 2025.

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• Design and implement simple, fast, elegant data driven content creation pipelines.
• Support both art and engineering.
• Implement/maintain game wide pipelines collaborating with engineering and content teams on implementation.
• Supports artists by trouble shooting artwork, fixing content issues or providing training and documentation.
• Optimize content to hit performance targets or memory targets
• Create high quality shaders and materials for a wide variety of surface types
• Create tools and scripts to assist the artists in their workflow.