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Art Manager

To our wonderful friends and followers around the world, Jagex is not pausing its search for the most talented people to join its ranks. We’re a successful, robust and growing business, after all.

In light of the current situation concerning coronavirus, we have already made changes to the way we recruit, and of course are mindful of following all necessary processes to ensure the safety of our staff and anyone we might come into contact with.

Jagex has switched to working almost entirely remotely, and in line with that our recruitment and selection process has moved to an entirely remote one with video calls being the preferred method of interview.

Our hiring managers are engaged, we are well-prepared and we sincerely look forward to talking to you soon. Our team of expert recruiters will be in touch with you to talk you through the process and changes and what to expect.

So, don’t delay, get that application in today!

A leader in creating deep and engaging experiences on PC and mobile, Jagex was founded in 2001 and is today one of the UK’s biggest and most respected video game developers and publishers.

Famed for its flagship MMOs RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, Jagex has welcomed more than 260million player accounts to its world and created a $1bn lifetime franchise revenue. Today the RuneScape franchise exists beyond running games in live operations; our titles are living games that connect and inspire millions of players, with content and experiences both inside and outside of inexhaustible game worlds.

Both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, on PC and mobile, offer ever-evolving, highly-active worlds and our community-focussed development ethos empowers players to have a real say in how each game is shaped.

Jagex is expanding and extending its portfolio with fresh franchise titles, new IP and, in 2018 launched Jagex Partners, delivering third-party publishing and operational services exclusively for the living games of the future.

Jagex employs more than 400 people at its Cambridge headquarters and is on the hunt for talented people to work across the business to help the company to achieve yet another year of record growth and player satisfaction.

You are the Production Manager for Old Schools Art team, responsible for managing and supporting the smooth running of all the scheduling/planning and allocating art resources including outsourcing capacities to where those are required with aligning with Art Director, Senior Artist and Producers to deliver the art assets for the product, encompassing all aspects of the games artwork, assets, technical delivery including 3D Models, Animation, Characters, Concept, 2D, Environment Art, and UI/ UX.

Partnering closely with the relevant Discipline Leads, Art Directors, Producers, Product Managers, Studio Operations and Finance you will leverage your in-depth knowledge of the Art discipline, to ensure you have the relevant support needed to service these areas in terms of sourcing capacity, costing, planning, schedules, briefing and feedback.

You will assess development situations and form strategies for delivering quality, cost-effective assets through 3rd party vendors, create work packages and review the technical and creative quality of assets as they progress through the pipeline

As part of the development of Old School it will be vitally important that the delivery of art is aligned to roadmap priorities, key objectives, and that you can manage medium level of delivery risk through thorough monitoring, tracking, and communicating progress to stakeholders. You will also help and support the Production Lead and Art Director to align internal art pipelines and delivery alongside external deliverables.

Someone successful in this role is player, product, and quality focused, leading by example, developing trust and respect among the team. You will support and improve planning, development, and release processes on a continuous basis to meet product vision and quality goals.

Key Duties

• Manage the production and delivery of all Art on Old School RuneScape (inhouse and outsource)
• Help to create and manage the schedule for Art.
• Work with the Art Director managing the Art Team structure and the team's personal development.
• As a member of the Production team, Liaise with the Production and Art Leads on all art planning and milestone definition processes.
• Communicate and prioritize dependencies, clearly in all directions.
• Provide guidance to the Art Director on the requirements of Art.
• Define and execute creative strategies for outsourcing and co-development that improve quality, cost-effectiveness, and risk mitigation of Old School RuneScape.
• Work closely with the Lead Producer/Development Director to track, organize, maintain, and document status of art assets and maintain alignment with internal art pipeline requirements and deliverables as well as external ones with outsourcing.
• Manage outsource engagements, including contracts and financial planning.
• Partner with studio operations to find new partners and create new ways to make outsourcing and co-development work efficiently for us.
• Develop rich relationships with the Dev Team, cross-functional teams and directly with external partners.
• Conduct regular, effective retrospectives and post-mortem reviews with the development team.
• Actively participates and contributes to change across the larger studio!

Essential Skills:

• Experienced artist in your own right, capable of delivering artwork to high standards.
• Experience in Production as a Producer or Development Director/Manager in gaming industry.
• Excellent organizational skills and proven experience managing multiple 2D and 3D assets in various stages of completion.
• Ability to understand, match, and communicate varied target styles.
• Experience with managing outsource and/or co-dev relationships, ideally involving a variety of disciplines.
• Experienced in reviewing outsourced art assets and ensuring assets are suitable for game implementation.
• Previous experience evaluating and determining outsource vendors and reviewing art tests.
• In-depth knowledge of project operations and best practices as an artist with project management responsibility in a game live operation, or similar software development projects.
• Experience managing large projects with Agile or hybrid project management principles and practices.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with JIRA, Shotgun or similar project tracking software is essential.
• Hyper-aware of the game industry’s online products, services, and innovations.
• Avid gamer is a plus, with a passion for creating innovative and compelling new games.

- Flexible Working

- Bonus Scheme

- Private Health Care

- Gym Membership

- Generous Pension Contributions

- Life Insurance

- Free Cycle Repair

- Income Protection

- Dental Plan

- Free Fruit and Drinks

- Subsidised Canteen

Feel like you fit this role, but don’t meet all the requirements? We strive for fresh perspectives, so as long as you can demonstrate how your attitude and other abilities might make up for any gaps we would welcome your application!

Jagex are an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief.