Director of Environment Art

Would you like to work on some of the greatest franchises in gaming history? What about working on our new original IP? Certain Affinity is the largest independent developer in Texas, based out of Austin, and has a growing presence in Toronto, Canada. Our culture reflects the values and the vibrant nature of the cities we call home. This includes ​a commitment to evolution, diversity, excellence, and work-life balance. We’re best known for co-developing numerous AAA FPS games, though now we are creating compelling new games. We’re always on the lookout for amazing talent to join our team.

As the Director of Environment Art, you will provide leadership for the environment department across the studio. This department consists of artists skilled in various disciplines, including material, worldbuilding, props, lighting, and foliage. This role requires a proactive communicator that can work with the project leads to realizing the vision, be a consistent source of direction and qualitative feedback for the projects, as well as the external voice of the environment team to partners. If you thrive on new challenges and can define and communicate clear and compelling direction and feedback, we’d like to hear from you.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and implement strategic goals for the Environment Art department by understanding the needs of the department and the studio.
• Regularly work with the Studio Leadership group to create and communicate initiatives.
• Work with leadership teams across multiple projects to understand the Environment Art needs on those projects.
• Working with Art Directors and Environment leads to growing department skills to build a visually consistent and highly immersive world that runs within performance guidelines.
• Continue to advance the studio’s art training programs, processes, workflows, and pipelines between projects.
• Work collaboratively across multiple projects with Art Directors, Environment Leads, and other departments to establish visual bars for environments.
• Direct art reviews if needed, with the ability to critique big-picture elements as well as individual assets in gate reviews.
• Work with leadership teams across multiple projects to define needs on current and future projects, including outsourcing efforts
• Be actively involved with recruiting, hiring, contracts, and external outreach.
• Provide leadership through 1-1s, mentoring, and reviews for the department.
• Can be asked to represent the Environment Art team to external business partners
• Organize social and team-building activities.
• Help develop and manage department budgets.
• Encourage and excite the team to find their voice and help them apply it to shape unique new projects as well as fit in with established brands and IP.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• 10+ years experience in the game industry, specifically modeling and texturing environments
• 5+ years experience in a leadership role
• Experience using Unreal or proprietary editors, software, and tools
• Experience establishing and driving new workflows for content creation
• Understanding of visual art with a focus on environments, composition, and critique.
• Experience mentoring artists and leads with 1:1’s and establishing career goals for artists
• Experience managing, scheduling, and critiquing work for multiple artists
• Shipped 1+ AAA title in last three years

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Foundation knowledge in traditional arts, with a strong understanding of color theory, and be able to create balanced & appealing color palettes through lighting, texturing and material work
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of composition and form grasp of scale, proportion, and lighting.
• Solid understanding of the aesthetics of the environment, function vs. form relationships, as well as what makes a game level fun and engaging
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills to bridge the gap between art, design, and tech.
• Ability to work within a style and effectively communicate to the rest of the team
• Expert-level knowledge of MAX, Maya, or other 3D software package
• Proficient with Z-Brush or other high-resolution sculpting tools
• Experience using proprietary editors, software, and tools or other similar experience with Unreal Engine, Radiant, Source Engine, etc.
• Solid grasp of performance requirements and constraints of current generation console and PC development
• Understanding of the construction and application of PBR materials and material software such as Substance Designer
• Excellent understanding of art pipelines and workflow
• Must be punctual, diligent, articulate, and organized
• Demonstrates ability to prioritize within time constraints and manage multiple efforts.
• Can initiate visual direction without specific concept or design

Certain Affinity or its partners or affiliates run background checks on candidates or employees with written authorization from the candidates or employees. These may be done for the purposes of offering employment or determining eligibility to work on a specific project. Multiple searches may be required.

Certain Affinity is authorized to do business in many, but not all, of the states in the US and the Canadian provinces. If you are not located in or able to work from a state where Certain Affinity is registered, you will not be eligible for employment. Please speak with your recruiter to learn more about where we are registered.

Certain Affinity