Amazon Game Studios is looking for an exceptionally skilled Character Art Lead. In this role, you will work closely with the Art Director and Concept Art team to deliver on the art vision. You will collaborate with level designers to deliver great gameplay. In this role, you will be leading the team that crafts and creates our characters. You will also bring your best artist management skills to get the most from the team while helping everyone pursue their career goals.
Amazon is all-in on games, and our mission is to be the most customer-obsessed company in the games industry. At Amazon Game Studios, we’re creating compelling games like New World, a sandbox MMO set on a supernatural continent in the 17th century, our multiplayer shooter Crucible, and our newly announced The Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon Games is also delivering great game benefits to Prime members each month via Twitch Prime, and providing game developers of all sizes with the tools they need to succeed with Amazon Game Tech.
We believe games are about community. Today, the communities that started in arcades, a quarter at a time, have evolved into Twitch streams with millions of viewers, and friendships first formed in-game that extend across continents. In this role, you’ll dive deep into the gaming community and help create new experiences and opportunities for connection.
Responsibilities
- Maintain a high level of quality while working with design and deadline constraints
- Work closely with the Art Director and other development leads to maximize the efficiency and quality of the character art team
- Responsible for the character art team’s execution of the artistic vision.
- Work with the art outsourcing team to identify opportunities and maximize outsourcing results.
- Excel at consistent aesthetic and technical quality throughout the asset pipeline.
- Lead efforts to optimize art assets for performance and memory usage.
- Provide clear, concise, consistent and timely visual direction, guidance and feedback.
- Play and thoroughly review the live game to ensure assets are produced at a high quality, represent the artistic vision and fulfill the needs of gameplay.
- Work with Production to measure quality, efficiency, and predictability of team.
Basic Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience making character models for games
- 3+ Shipped game titles
- 1+ AAA game title as a Lead
- Online portfolio displaying a variety of 3D AAA quality character artwork and a strong understanding of human, animal anatomy.
Preferred Qualifications
- Solid knowledge of next generation asset creation pipelines, tools, software and customization systems.
- Experience working and placing assets into a game engine. (i.e. unreal, unity, proprietary, etc)
- Proven experience in a professional game production pipeline
- Proven ability to create high-poly and low-poly models and textures
- Thorough understanding of 3D character art pipelines
- Must have the ability to take constructive criticism and maintain a professional attitude
- Able to accurately estimate the time to complete individual assets.
- Independently self-motivated, team player with excellent communication skills.
- Traditional art skills (drawing, painting, sculpting)
- Meets/exceeds Amazon’s leadership principles requirements for this role.
- Meets/exceeds Amazon’s functional/technical depth and complexity for this role.
Amazon is an Equal Opportunity – Affirmative Action Employer – Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation / Age
