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Lead Environment Artist

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres.

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent studio in Vancouver. We've also moved to a four-day work week, so come join us!

Do you have a passion for creating rich, intuitive and memorable game worlds that span the realms of this and fantastical otherworlds? Are you looking to elevate a project from its conception to its full potential? Do you leverage your experience to deftly skip over pitfalls while creatively identifying new opportunities? Do you observe the living world around you and infuse your work with this knowledge and understanding?

Blackbird Interactive is looking for creative minds to help develop a disruptive new game. You will be responsible for driving the creation of exceptional game environments, architecture, flora and props.

Please include a link to your showreel/portfolio.

Responsibilities

• 3D Modeling and 2D Surfacing terrain, architecture, props and flora
• Collaborate closely with World Designers, Technical Artists, Creative and Art Directors
• Partner directly with World Designers to ensure practical and effective solutions for all maps, worlds and contexts
• Ensure all art assets are functional, compliant with current builds and delivered on schedule
• Consider and balance technical limitations and opportunities with creative objectives
• Invest in growing your skills, knowledge and experience – step out of your comfort zone

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience as an environment artist and a current demo reel / portfolio
• Experience building high-quality and highly efficient game environments and props
• Strong visual aesthetic sensibility paired with strong technical execution and problem solving skills
• Understanding of gameplay considerations, limitations and implications for world-building
• Experience using procedural systems to author environments
• Experience capturing and / or working with acquired scan data
• Maya, Blender, Zbrush, Mudbox, Photoshop, Substance Painter experience or equivalent authoring software

Pluses

• Experience with Unity, Unreal Engine, Houdini, World Machine, World Creator, Terragen or equivalent authoring software
• A deep passion for, and familiarity with, games, their development and history
• Keen sense for ensuring players have intuitive landmarking cues for navigation and spatial relationships

+ 4-day, 32-hour work week for all full-time staff

+ Mentorship program

+ Skunkworks internal game jam program

+ 4 weeks paid vacation per year

+ 11 paid stat holidays

+ 3 paid days per year for professional development

+ December holiday studio closure (extra paid time off!)

+ Comprehensive health/dental benefits from day 1

+ Life insurance

+ $300 Healthcare Spending Account per annum

+ RRSP matching up to $1500

+ Profit-sharing bonus program

Any questions about the role and/or accessibility requests can be sent to: hr@blackbirdinteractive.com

Unfortunately, we cannot reply to everyone. Only successful applicants will be contacted about the next steps. Thank you for your understanding.

If you are interested in the role, please apply even if your experience and skills don’t perfectly match our ideal credentials. We are committed to inclusion and especially encourage members of historically marginalized communities to apply. As an equal opportunity employer we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. BBI does not discriminate against applicants based on gender, race, national and ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital and family status, and/or mental or physical disabilities.

Blackbird Interactive is privileged to be developing our projects on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ /Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.