Special Note to Candidates: If everything about this job looks great except the location, DAM still encourages you to submit because we are actively trying to fill other mid, senior and lead character art roles throughout the United States and Canada as well as fully remote options.

Additional DAM Insight

• 20-year-old independent PC/Console Developer recently turned 1st Party
• Highly respected Narrative-driven RPG games developer that’s led by an industry luminary
• Relocation Assistance will be provided if necessary
• No Visa Transfers or Sponsorships are able to be considered at this time

Location

• Orange County, CA

Job Type

• Permanent, Onsite Full-Time Employment

Summary

We are looking for an experienced and exceptional Lead/Senior Character Artist to join us on an unannounced project. Our group of experienced game developers is creating a new title that has amazing opportunities for visuals and gameplay. You will partner with artists, designers, and engineers to deliver best in class character art. If you’re interested and you are a leader in the industry that is experienced, motivated, and highly skilled, our team would love to meet you. This is a full-time position in our Orange County, CA or New Orleans, LA location, you must be willing to relocate. For out of the country candidates, you must have a work VISA in the USA, we’re unable to sponsor at this time.

Responsibilities

• Create benchmark characters that set high visual and technical standards
• Imagine, craft, and produce characters that range from realistic to slightly stylized
• Work closely with the project Art Director and Leads to ensure the vision of the game is achieved
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary departments to hit visual and functional goals
• Seek out and define character iteration improvement and efficiency efforts
• Help prioritize and manage the character team’s tasks to ensure best possible quality in a timely fashion
• Create and publish workflow and process documentation
• Provide written and verbal feedback to artists that are internal and external
• Manage, mentor and provide feedback to artists to ensure project goals are met
• Understand and communicate visual direction through words and images

Requirements

• Ability to productively collaborate and communicate with teammates
• Experience managing and mentoring internal and external character artists
• Deep understanding of current generation character pipelines with the know how to further develop them
• Advanced skills in character creation workflows
• Strong surfacing, color, and Substance Painter skills
• Experience implementing cloth, hair, and realistic anatomy and details.
• Excellent attention to detail regarding shape, scale, and proportion
• Ability to quickly understand where character detail is needed and where it is not
• Experience using masked materials and physically based rendering (PBR) workflows
• Strong concept and concept interpretation skills
• Ability to research, document, concept, manage, and design large and small projects
• Shipped multiple games using the Unreal game engine as a Senior or Lead Character Artist
• Portfolio demonstrating a variety of techniques and visually appealing characters

Bonus Qualifications

• Training and tutoring skills are a plus
• Experience in photogrammetry
• Marvelous Designer
• Experience working on a first and\or third person game
• Previous experience working in feature film or tv animation pipeline
• Bachelor’s degree in Art & Design