Tech Art Director

Firesprite is a visionary game development studio based in the heart of Liverpool.

Proud to be an integral part of the PlayStation Studios family, we create showcase games that take players on thrilling journeys, with memorable characters, captivating narratives, and shared moments of excitement. Our commitment to the core values of Inclusivity, Bravery, Responsiveness, Entrepreneurial and Professionalism is a key driving force behind our work culture.

Role Description:

We are seeking a highly skilled Technical Art Director to join our team, working on a dark, story-driven 'Narrative Adventure' with genre defining goals. The ideal candidate will bridge the gap between art and technology, ensuring the visual quality and performance of our games meet the highest standards. You will work closely with production, artists, designers, and engineers to develop and implement processes and tools that improve our game development pipelines and deliver the creative vision of the team.

Ideally, we would love individuals to be based in the studio for 1-3 days per week, but we may consider those who have a preference for remote working in the UK.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead and mentor a team of technical artists, providing guidance and support to achieve artistic and technical goals.
• Collaborate with art directors, designers and engineers to define and implement the visual style and technical requirements of the game.
• Build and maintain tools and pipelines that streamline the art production process and improve efficiency.
• Troubleshoot and solve technical issues related to art production, ensuring smooth integration of assets into engine.
• Identify industry trends and technologies and integrate to improve production pipelines and the visual quality of our game.
• Communicate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and collaboration throughout the development process.
• Find opportunities for future cycles where improvements should be made beyond the current project timeline.
• Facilitate the creation and maintenance of documentation standards and practices for in-game technical art pipelines.
• Develop a positive and upbeat team culture.
• Support the production team to ensure a realistic project scope that can be met against team capacity.
• Raise project risks with production and leadership teams, providing alternative solutions to reach resolution.

What we're looking for:

• Experience as a Technical Art Director or similar role in the video game industry.
• Strong understanding of game development pipelines, tools and processes.
• Proficient in industry-standard software, Maya, Substance Designer, Houdini, etc.
• Proficient in UE5 or similar engines and performance optimisations.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to inspire, empower, and mentor a team.
• Experienced in identifying inefficiencies within workflows and can devise a credible plan to increase efficiency.
• A good understanding of both art and programming.
• Ability to work well with others in cross-discipline teams.
• A passion for games and game creation.

Desirable Skills:

• Knowledge of procedural content generation techniques.
• Knowledge in shader development, visual effects and real-time rendering techniques.
• 3D maths and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with scripting languages such as Python or C#.
• Experience with profiling and identifying CPU & GPU bottlenecks using industry standard tools.

Firesprite is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, with a commitment to a culture of inclusion and mutual respect for all employees from every walk of life, reflecting the community we make games for. We welcome and encourage applications from all suitable applicants regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.