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Principal Technical Artist

Crystal Dynamics, a part of the Square Enix family and the studio behind Marvel’s Avengers and the award-winning Tomb Raider franchise, is constantly on the hunt for top-tier gaming talent worldwide. We pride ourselves on attracting and developing the best talent available to concept, create, and contribute to the most exciting projects in gaming. Our 25-plus years of game development experience, as well as our combined AAA games industry pedigree, has established us as one of best studios to work for today.

Benefits for this full-time position include a competitive salary, 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance options and plenty of days of paid time-off.

Position Summary

Come be a part of the future of Tomb Raider! Crystal Dynamics is looking for a Principal Technical Artist to drive positive change in the tools and technology the studio uses to create world-class AAA game content. The Principal Technical Artist is responsible for working tightly with the Art and Technical Directors to balance performance with visual quality, while pushing the studio technology and aesthetic bar forward.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Work with directors, team leads, and studio leadership to define and help implement franchise and/or studio wide initiatives.
• Work with production and leadership to manage project scope, including managing the balance between optimization and visual quality.
• Anticipate future project challenges, spearhead solutions, and set high-level goals for the team
• Identify and drive forward next-gen technologies and R&D efforts for the studio.
• Act as mentor for the technical art team and sets standards for technical art team members.

Competencies, Skills & Knowledge

• Expert industry knowledge. Broad general knowledge in all areas of technical art, including but not limited to: Environment Art Tools and Pipeline Development, Character Art Tools and Pipeline Development, Animation Tools and Pipeline Development, Rendering and Shading techniques, GPU/CPU/Memory Profiling and Optimization, Secondary Character Systems (such as IK and Cloth), and Simulation / Procedural Content Generation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with both technical and non-technical audiences, including productive feedback and brainstorming, creation / contribution to technical design documents, and code and script documentation.
• Strong cross-departmental communication and ability to work with teams in different locations.
• Positive attitude, strong work ethic and the ability to work in a highly collaborative team environment.
• Extremely strong technical and interpersonal problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently or with a team structure – including in a remote environment.
• Show respect for all co-workers as well as processes. Daily professional conduct must be carried out with essential traits of responsibility and maturity.

Essential Requirements

• Multiple shipped AAA titles, including experience as a Lead Technical Artist. Preference for candidates with previous Principal Technical Artist experience.
• Deep knowledge of both historical and current trends in real-time graphics, simulation, and game production pipelines.

Crystal Dynamics is an EOE and M/F/D/V employer