Studio Art Director - Riyadh

About Sandsoft:

Sandsoft was formed by industry leaders from international video games publishers and local talents with the core ambition to help develop the gaming ecosystem across MENA, modernize the region and take MENA from an emerging market to a global market leader. Sandsoft has offices in Saudi Arabia, Spain, Finland and China.

Sandsoft is looking for talented individuals who share the same drive and vision.

About Riyadh Studio:

At Sandsoft, we do things differently.

Our Background. We are a new, dynamic games company based in Saudi Arabia focused on publishing, developing & investing in high quality, core mobile Free to Play and Play & Earn game experiences and studios across the world. Our seasoned team is composed of passionate game makers with vast experience in developing, publishing and leading some of the most highly successful game franchises ever released including FIFA, Candy Crush, Need for Speed, Angry Birds, World of Tanks and more. And we are backed by the resources of one of the largest, most successful and prestigious corporations in the Middle East (Ajlan &Bros).

We Value Independence. We create the best possible, small teams we call ‘Tribes’ and give them the freedom and independence to work together in pursuit of creating the highest quality games with high reliability and competition at the heart of the experience. Each Tribe has the freedom to pursue this goal as they see fit. It’s up to them to decide what is best for Sandsoft and for our players.

We Defer to Trust. We trust each other, even when we disagree. In this environment, you will work with your colleagues who will trust you to do what makes sense and give you the autonomy to do what is right for Sandsoft as only our game teams can make the decision to launch or shut down their project.

Everyone is a Game Maker. Everybody in our development team is first and foremost, a Game Maker and you will be no different. We encourage our people to use their talents where they have the most impact. We ask and give feedback proactively to inform our decisions. So while you are a master of your own discipline, you are also a key stakeholder and your role and voice is critical when it comes to concepting and designing Games.

Role Overview

We are looking for a hands-on, experienced and multi-disciplinary Studio Art Director who will be a part of the Management Team at Sandsoft’s Riyadh Studio. Here you will have the opportunity to work on ambitious games with grand ideas.

As the Studio Art Director you will be responsible for working with and supporting artists within game teams to create a coherent art vision for each of our game projects that supports both product and creative direction.

You will manage a team of Lead Artists, helping to ensure excellence in all aspects of in-game visuals, overseeing artists' contributions for game projects across the studio. The team will look to you as an inspirational leader who provides motivation, mentoring and coaching as well as advocating team creativity and best practices throughout all art disciplines.

Responsibilities:

- Guide, support and where needed work directly with our Artists to help create unique and memorable art direction for our games.

- Define, establish and manage pipelines & processes to deliver world leading art content aligned with our development process.

- Clearly communicates the art direction through easily digestible art direction visuals, pitches, guides & documentation to align team understanding and direction.

- Manage recruitment and review potential new artist candidates.

- Mentor and coach the art team to give their best performance and to develop in their careers.

- Conduct research on latest visual trends, technologies and tools to find ways to improve quality with an excellent eye for detail on what world leading games look like.

- Vet, establish and manage relationships with external outsource Art partners when needed.

Experience and Qualifications:

- A minimum of 8+ years of experience as an art director or lead artist on several successfully released Mobile and/or AAA Console/PC Games.

- A proven track record of directing high-quality, complex game art and animation, including gameplay assets, characters and environments from concept to in- game across mobile and/or AAA games in an Art Leadership capacity.

- Excellent artistic and technical skill sets across all key areas of Game Art (2D/3D Art, Concept art, Illustration, High-resolution sculpting/modeling, Rigging, Animation, Graphic Design, Characters, Environment, VFX, Tooling, UI design etc).

- Technical expertise with the main graphics engines on the market.

- Passionate about video games, with a strong interest for both stylistic and photorealistic art styles.

- Possesses a positive track record in terms of developing, mentoring, and managing multidisciplinary graphics teams.

- Vast knowledge of different art styles, techniques and production methods used in the entertainment industry.

- A motivated, independent, self-starting attitude with strong interpersonal and communication skills

- Strong ethics and reliability that acts as a role model for their team and fuels teamwork and collaboration across the organization

- A Growth Mindset that shows a learning attitude and a problem-solving and decision-making aptitude