Lead Technical Artist - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA or Albany, NY

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Job Description:

At Blizzard we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms borders backgrounds and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.

We are looking for a Lead Technical Artist to help us define and craft a new unannounced game for Blizzard. As a key member of the development team you will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of high-quality tech art work and processes including art pipelines proprietary tools creation software plug-ins procedural workflows and in-game technology. You understand how to effectively build integrate and optimize a variety of technical game pipelines that support gameplay and enable the art team to hit iconic visual standards. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic environment navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine CA.

Responsibilities:

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours so this role includes but is not limited to the following responsibilities:

• Lead and mentor technical artists across key initiatives including art pipelines procedural generation rigging shading and performance instilling scalability and best practices.
• Help drive global tech art initiatives through direct management of skills processes and technical / artistic techniques.
• Engage in game production challenges by identifying and solving issues that span design art and engineering.
• Collaborate with design art and engineering on efficient workflows and automation that serve the teams intentions for gameplay.
• Partner with other leads and directors to meet visual and technical standards.
• Own performance optimization for art assets by creating clear art performance standards asset performance monitoring tools and by building a maintainable process for reviewing and addressing asset performance optimization.
• Research define extend and maintain production pipelines processes and workflows.
• Identify problems and solve them by implementing off-the-shelf solutions and custom technical solutions.
• Make and help implement recommendations on how to improve both product quality and group productivity.
• Identify potential and recurring workflow problems and collaborate with other developers to find viable solutions.
• Manage and maintain asset integration files pipelines and processes.

Requirements:

• 10 years experience in AAA tech art.
• 2 years experience in a leadership position managing a team of technical artists.
• Expertise in Python C# and /or C specifically as it applies to programming in DCC applications (such as Maya).
• Shipped multiple major titles in a relevant role.
• Comprehensive understanding of all major aspects of asset creation in commercial engines.
• Strong understanding of PBR.
• Commitment to fostering strong interdepartmental relationships understanding that effective collaboration is key to smooth high-impact productions.
• A growth-driven mindset encouraging others to elevate their core skills through collaborative problem-solving and a shared love of game creation.
• Self-motivated ability to lead initiatives.
• Proven ability to independently drive initiatives demonstrating strong leadership and follow-through.

Extra Points:

• Experience working through early development R&D phases of a project is a plus.
• Experience handling high-poly workflow data.

Your Platform

At Blizzard Entertainment we pour our hearts and souls into everything we create. Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft Overwatch Diablo and StarCraft weve been creating genre-defining games for millions of players around the world for more than 30 years. Were on a quest: bring our dreams to life and craft the most epic entertainment experiencesever. Hard work iteration and polish go into the Blizzard secret recipe but the most important ingredients come from talented people who share our vision. If that sounds like you join us.

Our World

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is one of the worlds largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty World of Warcraft Overwatch Diablo Candy Crush and Bubble Witch. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical emotional and financial well-being for Every World - weve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification when in fact they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position please email your request to General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race religion color national origin gender sexual orientation gender identity age marital status veteran status or disability status among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical emotional and financial well-being for Every World - weve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical dental vision health savings account or health reimbursement account healthcare spending accounts dependent care spending accounts life and AD&D insurance disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match tuition reimbursement charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation paid sick time floating holidays compassion and bereavement leaves parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs fitness programs free and discounted games and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability legal service ID protection rental insurance and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting the U.S. the standard base pay range for this role is $116800.00 - $216000.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately your specific range and offer will be based on several factors including relevant experience performance and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this roles range details for your local geography during the hiring addition to a competitive base pay employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates new hire compensation is negotiable.