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Lead Artist - Casual Mobile Game

It’s an incredibly exciting time here at Space Ape Games. We have projects at all stages of the development cycle, along with a fast paced environment that promotes genuine autonomy. Our exciting new music game, Beatstar is in soft launch and we are also working on a new multiplayer game set in the Boom Beach universe. Check out our artstation to get a glimpse of the other genres we’ve been working on.

As a Lead Artist/Art Director you will be at the forefront of one of our new casual titles. As a core member of the team you will help drive the artistic vision of the product, working closely with the Product Lead to create a brand that will be enjoyed by millions.

You will set the visual quality bar, and drive the artists working with you to produce world-class content. Whether you create benchmark artwork yourself or engage third parties to help, you will be the guardian of the brand’s visual identity. The feel of the game will also be in your hands as you produce prototypes and mockups for features, bringing the game design to life with flair.

Your passion & experience in developing joyful casual mobile game experiences is what makes you an ideal candidate. A thorough appreciation for the casual mass-market, alongside your strong art direction & communication skills, will ensure you excel at this career opportunity.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine the product’s brand from the ground up, testing appropriately to ensure it will be a success in the market
• Produce conceptual art and mockups for characters, environments and gameplay features
• Create and maintain the brand/art style guides and technical documentation.
• Develop and maintain the in-game art assets through all stages of production.
• Work closely with the product owner, designers and engineers to establish the production pipeline and best practices for your game.
• Mentor artists along their career paths, setting challenges to encourage & nurture growth.
• Take ownership of the milestone planning, day-to-day feedback communications, and final quality of deliverables from external partners (outsourcing)
• Inspire and motivate the art team to achieve their best, driving artistic quality by example and successful team work, giving feedback and direction where needed.
• Understand and work within project requirements and constraints.
• Keep up to date with game artwork trends and influences.

Requirements

• At least 5 years experience creating artwork for games.
• A deep knowledge of the casual games market
• A portfolio demonstrating the development of brands/IPs for casual mobile games
• Exceptional visual communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills as a leader, collaborator and mentor.
• Technical expertise and familiarity with game-engines & their performance requirements.
• Extensive knowledge of 3D and 2D Art pipelines
• Thorough experience of setting up and running outsource partnerships
• An avid interest in all types of art & graphic design.
• A professional, pro-active & collaborative work attitude.
• Passion for mobile gaming, and a deep desire to create the next big hit!

Why Space Ape is right for you

• Be a part of one of several small empowered teams who inspire and challenge one another in the pursuit of our mission
• Autonomy to make your own impact with the support to help it happen
• Designated ‘Ape Space’ creative time where you are free to work on game concepts and ideas away from your day to day
• The freedom to further your skill set the way you want with a generous training budget
• An award winning studio that in 2017, 2018, 2019, & 2020 was crowned one of the best companies to work for in the UK by gamesindustry.biz.
• Help run and create games which bring joy to millions of players all over the world
• 4.7/5.0 Glassdoor rating - Check out our reviews
• Entered a long-term strategic partnership with Supercell in 2017
• Competitive salary & stock options

About Space Ape

At Space Ape we pride ourselves on our passion and the trust we place in our people. We look for passionate, productive, team players who are relentless in their pursuit of our mission. There’s no bureaucracy here, we just get things done. Space Ape’s mission is to make the highest quality and most successful mobile games in the world. Founded in 2012 we’ve since launched four games that have been installed by over 100 million people and generated over $250m revenue.

We are part of the Supercell family, giving access to some of the most talented game makers on the planet.

Our studio is currently 110 strong and built around the belief that small empowered teams make the best games. This philosophy enables us to innovate, move faster and have the creative ownership required to make the greatest games on mobile.