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Art Director

About Playable Worlds

Playable Worlds is a team of talented and creative game industry professionals working together on a sandbox MMO built for the cloud. Led by Raph Koster (Ultima Online; Star Wars Galaxies) Playable Worlds offers a collaborative and diverse work environment, competitive pay and benefits, and an opportunity to create new kinds of gameplay and experiences in online worlds that feel real and engaging.

All positions at Playable Worlds are currently remote. We plan to re-open an office later this year in San Diego and will offer the option to relocate and provide relocation support for employees not in the San Diego area.

The salary r ange for this position is $150k - $220k annually and stock options.

Summary

Playable Worlds is seeking a highly motivated and talented Art Director with the creative vision and technical understanding to help build out our fantastic worlds. In this role, you will be responsible for driving end-to-end execution of concepts, brand and art development. Owning the end-to-end process of creating the vision, art, and technical direction of our original IP, you will use great concept designs, and working knowledge of style, scope and planning.

You will be an integral part of a diverse company culture founded on our passion for gaming and dedicated to creating an open and transparent, family-friendly work environment.

Applicants must be able to provide examples of their work and a test may be required.

Essential Job Functions

• Lead and c ollaborate closely with the Art team to contribute to and uphold the creative vision of the game.
• Define and en force the look of the project and elevate other artists' work to maintain craft quality.
• Communicate with internal stakeholders to champion the art style for the project.
• Develop milestones for the Art team through clear direction and sustainable scoping.
• Lead the ou tsourcing process with your leads and drive management of the relationships of external art contractors.
• Coach, mentor, and guide the Art team.

Knowledge/Skill/Ability Requirements

• Experience level: At least twelve ( 12 ) years of game art production experience, including six ( 6 ) or more years of experience in an art leadership role.
• Education level: College degree in Art, Design, or similar, preferred but not required.
• Highly motivated with good communication skills, a positive attitude, and the ability to work directly with designers and engineers.
• A passion for and/or desire to explore possibilities of real-time, stylized visuals.
• Strong knowledge of traditional production techniques in addition to working knowledge of large, scalable multiplayer games.
• Ability to take initiative to solve problems with excellent follow-through.
• Experience with Unreal, Unity, or equivalent engines.
• Have a portfolio link or resume with examples of latest work.
• Ability to prioritize a variety of tasks in a manner that enables timely completion.
• Must have art directed on an MMO or AAA game with large world requirements.

Bonus Points for Any of These

• Experience with advanced character systems and pipelines for games.
• Experience with Substance Designer/Substance Painter and material workflows.

Location

• All positions at Playable Worlds are currently remote. We plan to re-open an office later this year in San Diego and will offer the option to relocate and provide relocation support for employees not in the San Diego area.