This job listing expired on Dec 31, 2020
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Who We Are

We're ArenaNet, a studio making online worlds infused with innovation, hand-crafted excellence, and creative passion. Our passion is broadly shared; gamers made Guild Wars 2 the fastest selling MMO game in the West with more than 3 million copies sold in its first 9 months, and players and press have consistently called it one of the best MMOs of all time.

Our studio is built on foundations of excellence with a focus on community. We constantly innovate, unlocking the true potential of online role-playing with game-changing titles like Guild Wars 2 and beyond. The status quo isn't good enough for our dedicated worldwide community of players which is why we question the de facto industry conventions and demand more from ourselves as developers.

Who You Are

You are a highly experienced technical artist with significant practice collaborating with artists and engineers to define clear goals for toolsets, pipelines, and art development processes.

As the Principal Technical Artist, you will work closely with the game director, principal engine lead, art team, and engineers to evaluate multiple engine solutions for an online AAA RPG from a pipeline and tools perspective. Other duties include, leading R&D efforts for tools, content, and new technologies for art development while partnering with tools leads to set strategic visions. You will then partner with engineers to develop, or integrate, those cutting-edge tools and technology. Additionally, you will work closely with game artists to support new and existing art tools and pipelines while maintaining performance goals defined by you and graphics engineers. Finally, you will work closely on the most difficult technical art challenges for the product to deliver key product innovations to the industry.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL:

  • Significant experience on either PC or console AAA game titles, ideally both platforms.
  • Extensive knowledge of modern content creation pipelines and workflows, including familiarity with a variety of DCC packages
  • Ability and willingness to mentor team members
  • Deep knowledge in Pipeline and automation or at least one of the following areas:
    • Technical animation and rigging
    • Lighting and surfacing
    • Visual FX and rendering
    • Procedural content generation
    • Expertise in Autodesk Maya
  • Expertise in Python with some experience with at least one other scripting or programming language (C++, C#, JavaScript, etc.)
  • Experience shipping multiple games including at least one AAA title
  • Experience with multiple game engines
  • Excellent written and verbal communications skills
  • Excellent organization and time-management skills
  • A customer-centric approach to tool development; solid grasp of UX

Preferred

  • Experience developing for live multiplayer games
  • Experience developing for modern consoles
  • Experience with at least multiple commercial engines (Unity, Unreal3/4, CryEngine, Lumberyard, etc.)
  • Has experience in all stages of game development, pre-production through ship
  • Experience with PyMel and the Maya Python API