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Lead Character Artist - VR

At Skydance Interactive, we believe in pushing the boundaries of what is possible in interactive entertainment. Innovation in game design, technology and storytelling is the passion that drives our agile studio of dedicated and talented game creators. Collaboration across all disciplines is vital to our success and is at the core of the inclusive culture we strive to foster every day.

We empower our employees to take ownership of the features they develop and create their own solutions when challenges arise. As our studio grows, we want to bring even more risk-takers, innovators and diverse voices along for the ride as we continue to create the games that will defy convention and define the future of the medium.

Following the success of our first VR title Archangel , we elevated our ambition and tackled The Walking Dead universe in VR. The result was the 2020 genre-defining hit The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners . We are currently working on several highly anticipated VR games for emerging platforms that we can’t wait for you to play.

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Skydance Interactive, the studio behind one of VR’s most critically acclaimed series “The walking dead: Saints and Sinners” is seeking an experienced Lead Character artist to join our team and become a core pillar of the development process. We need a leader capable of delivering excellent high-quality character models on a personal level while simultaneously providing management and mentorship to a team of internal and external artists. The Lead character artist will also be responsible for driving the development of the character art team's workflows and priorities in partnership with the art director, animation director and rigging team. Our goal is nothing less than to push the state of VR’s fidelity, Immersion, gameplay, and storytelling to the next level.

It is an exciting time to be a VR developer and we believe that with the excellent support of our parent company Skydance Media and our strong partnerships within the VR Industry, we are uniquely positioned to create truly extraordinary games. If you are the kind of person that enjoys the holistic process of breathing life into characters and thrives in a fast-paced, challenging and yet solutions-oriented environment...Join us and let’s get to work seeing what is possible.

Responsibilities

• Modeling, sculpting, texturing, and assembling highly creative character models that must adhere to strict technical guidelines.
• Working closely with the project art director and animation director to drive the long-term development goals and daily operations of the character art team.
• Provide constructive feedback during the design phase of character concepting to achieve the best possible results with aesthetic, performance, and rigging considerations.
• Take top level ownership of all character art pipelines and workflows within the project including those specifically associated with hero props and weapons.
• Collaborate with and coordinate cross discipline teams to achieve consensus and understanding on challenging issues.
• Organize, manage, and mentor Internal team members and foster relationships with 3rd party external contractors.
• Ensure that all documentation for character art related workflows is organized, current, and understood by the team.
• Spearhead the development of artist friendly character pipelines that produce high quality results while being performant on a variety of platforms.

Requirements

• 5+ years professional game development experience, with at least 1+ year experience leading a pod or team.
• At least 1 shipped tittle credited with a lead character art position.
• Experience using a dynamic PBR (Physically Based Rendering) workflow.
• A strong knowledge of artist tools and workflows for asset creation.

Pluses

• Experience with the unique abilities and limitations of VR development would be a significant bonus but not required.
• Some experience with project management and team capacity tracking software would also be a significant plus.

The salary range for this position in Los Angeles is $120,000 - $140,000. The salary offered may vary based on the candidate’s location, qualifications, experience and relevant expertise, among other factors. The range indicated is for base salary only and does not reflect the total compensation package, including bonus, benefits, etc.

We realize that skills and expertise can come from many different experiences and paths, and we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all of the requirements as written in the job description.

#Interactive #LI-hybrid

Skydance is a diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create high quality, event-level entertainment for global audiences. The Company brings to life stories of immersive worlds across its feature film, television, interactive, and animation divisions.

Skydance is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to building and fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. We welcome and consider applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy status, military/veteran status, disability, or any other protected category. Diversity in the workplace is not just a commitment, it is who we are and a reflection of what makes our world special.

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