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Senior Technical Artist

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent studio in Vancouver. We're also moving to a four day work week, come join us!

Do you have a passion for human and creature anatomy, creative and technical problem-solving, artist tool development and maximizing the functionality and performance from a character rig?

Do you wish game characters and creatures looked a little less janky and ‘weird’ and more elegant and believable?

Do you have a strong sense of where to invest your time, energy and resources to make the greatest impression on Players? Can you strategically and creatively inform gameplay and cinematic character rigs and animation tools to achieve functional, immersive, satisfying and engaging performances?

Blackbird Interactive is looking for creative minds to help develop a disruptive new game. You will be responsible for driving the creation of exceptional previsualization, gameplay and cinematic animations.

Please include a link to your showreel/portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Define and establish benchmark rigs for a variety of humanoid characters and an intriguing array of creatures and machines that scale effectively across all platform specifications
• Partner directly with Animation, Character and Software Engineer teams to ensure practical and effective solutions for all character types and variations
• Drive design and review processes to ensure effective criteria and test protocols are established and clearly communicated
• Establish effective workflows, pipelines and test plans
• Establish and communicate clear scheduling estimates, justifications, interdependencies, risks and mitigations
• Develop strongly-supported Creative, Feature and Technical proposals and present them effectively to ensure buy-in
• Develop tools that effectively address runtime performance and memory requirements across a broad range of target platforms
• Direct local and external staff with clear, concise and effective guidance and feedback
• Drive critical review process for your team in a positive, respectful and nurturing manner

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience as a Technical Artist in the games industry and a current demo reel
• Must have shipped a minimum of 3 titles
• A thorough understanding of real time performance considerations, implications and strategies
• Autodesk Maya and MotionBuilder, Houdini

Pluses

• Strong design, anatomical, kinesthetic and technical sensibilities
• Animation experience and/or knowledge
• Experience with Unity, Unreal Engine or equivalent game engines
• Drawing, Acting, Musical Theater experience
• Deep passion for, and familiarity with, games, their development and history
• C++, C#, Python and Maya API

At Blackbird, we're all about being true to our roots. We started small in our CEO's garage, and even though we're expanding, our desire is to stick to that foundation of creativity, community, and collaboration. Our team has proved that great ideas can come from any position in any discipline, so it's important to us to make sure every voice is heard.

Work/life balance is extremely important to us, and we've demonstrated that over the years by severely limiting over-time requirements. We want people to be happy about coming to work every day, and to that end we offer lots of opportunities for growth and development; whether it's lunch and learns, team events, or our generous vacation days, paid holiday closure and flexible schedules. We also try to provide every opportunity possible for our employees to spearhead R&D initiatives through our BlackOps program. In short, don't expect to feel like a cog in a machine working for BBI.

Due to COVID-19, applicants must be eligible to work in Canada, or currently in Canada on a work permit/visa. With the exception of specifically on-site roles, all roles will commence as a work-from-home arrangement. This arrangement will be revisited as COVID-19 government regulations are eased.

If you are interested in the role, please apply even if your experience and skills don’t perfectly match our ideal credentials. We are committed to diversity and especially encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply. As an equal opportunity employer we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. BBI does not discriminate against applicants based on genders, races, national and ethnic origins, religions, ages, sexual orientation, marital and family status, and/or mental or physical disabilities.