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Lead Concept Artist

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.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Lead Concept Artist to join a growing team on a new project! As the Lead Concept Artist, you will be responsible for inspiring and maintaining visual direction together with the Art Director. In addition, you will also be responsible for building, mentoring and training your concept art team to collaboratively achieve effective, quality art with efficiency. This role gives a rare opportunity for a lead to make a significant impact on a game from conception to completion.

You are a highly skilled individual who can create, deliver and guide others to produce high standard concept art. You provide invaluable support to the Art Director and have a deep understanding of current techniques and processes within your discipline.

A lead is a skilled contributor with the ability and desire to manage direct reports and to be able to effectively time manage themselves and others in their sub team to deliver the results expected by the game’s Art Direction. Leads work closely with the Art Direction to establish the vision and document any style guides or pipelines in support of that goal. They will be expected to be hands-on and perform the duties of their speciality when needed while also taking on the lead-specific duties as outlined below.

Key Duties:

• In addition to the duties performed by a senior concept artist, the lead must be able to perform the following duties dependent upon the focus required at each stage of development;
• Provide leadership, direction and line management to the concept team
• Responsible for the delivery of highest quality in game concept art
• Understand Technical Art, Narrative and Design parameters to ensure design of effective and achievable visual elements
• Review art to maintain consistent quality and provide feedback and critique
• Plan, schedule and structure discipline tasks that feed into AD’s master schedule
• Document and communicate specifications and visual benchmarks to support the games artistic vision to both internal and external artists
• Produce guides breaking down, in detail, steps to reproduce assets within style
• Support, promote and build good team and studio morale in an open, creative environment
• Together with AD/ AAD contribute toward discipline hiring plans and recruitment process
• Manage outsource partners or freelancers as required

Essential Skills:

• Portfolio work of ‘hands on’ outstanding AAA Concept art
• Understanding of both realistic and stylized visual elements
• Thorough knowledge of end-to-end in concept workflow and related disciplines
• Understanding of game constraints such as to communicate and resolve concept related issues
• Comfortable with running individual, group review and critique sessions
• Able to time manage, prioritise and track both themselves and direct reports
• Ability to communicate clearly, and concisely to team, peers and management
• Willingness to transition between asset production and line management
• Able to level up junior to senior artists through teaching and mentoring
• Professional attitude and work ethic
• Excellent soft skills and teamwork
*BONUS* 3D Skills

- 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.