Technical Artist (Apex Legends)
Founded in 2010 by the original creators of the Call of Duty Franchise, Respawn was created with the philosophy that when talented people have creative freedom, they'll make extraordinary games that achieve the unexpected. From our roots as an indie studio to joining the expansive roster of studios at Electronic Arts, this remains our guiding principle. We truly love what we do and want to share our passion with players worldwide.
Our shipped titles include critically acclaimed multi-platform games Apex Legends, Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Star Wars™ Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars™ Jedi: Survivor and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Join us for the opportunity to create groundbreaking games with some of the best developer talent in the industry.
The Technical Artist serves as a bridge between art and engineering, ensuring that art assets are integrated efficiently without compromising visual quality or exceeding technical constraints. They collaborate closely with art leadership and programmers to support both creative vision and technical performance.
Key responsibilities include establishing and maintaining art production workflows, evaluating and implementing tools and pipelines, researching new techniques, and creating custom tools (often via scripting) to improve team efficiency. The role also involves troubleshooting complex assets such as rigs and skinning systems, supporting rendering features (e.g., shaders, particle systems, maps), and mentoring artists on technical best practices.
Overall, the Technical Artist focuses less on direct asset creation and more on building scalable systems, solving technical challenges, and optimizing the art pipeline as technology evolves.
Responsibilities
- Maintain and improve technologies and art workflows.
- Identify art workflow problems, and work with Technical Producers, SME’s, CG Sups and TA’s to solve them.
- Establish and enforce naming conventions within assets, tools, and workflows
- Integrate new technologies (internal and external) into art workflows.
- Interact with other artists/TA's on a daily basis to identify challenges and provide solutions.
- Accountable for asset delivery on time and meeting budget (memory and performance).
- Accountable for continuous asset build stability.
Skills and Experience
- At least 2 years of games/animation/FX production experience.
- Intermediate knowledge of CG fundamentals: modeling, texturing/shading/surfacing, rigging, animation, lighting, rendering, compositing.
- Understanding of various gaming platform limitations with regard to visual assets.
- Advanced understanding of at least one 3D package, preferably Maya.
- Intermediate scripting experience with Python and/or Mel/Maya API.
- Excellent aptitude for troubleshooting CG issues.
- Ability to think creatively to resolve technical challenges and limitations.
- Excellent communication skills, with a willingness and confidence to provide a bridge between artists and software engineers.
Pay Transparency - North America
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).
PAY RANGES * British Columbia (depending on location e.g. Vancouver vs. Victoria) *$86,600 - $118,600 CAD * California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. San Francisco) *$48 - $75 USD
Pay is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. For Canada, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity. In the US, we offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees.
About Electronic ArtsWe’re proud to have an extensive portfolio of games and experiences, locations around the world, and opportunities across EA. We value adaptability, resilience, creativity, and curiosity. From leadership that brings out your potential, to creating space for learning and experimenting, we empower you to do great work and pursue opportunities for growth.
We adopt a holistic approach to our benefits programs, emphasizing physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support a balanced life. Our packages are tailored to meet local needs and may include healthcare coverage, mental well-being support, retirement savings, paid time off, family leaves, complimentary games, and more. We nurture environments where our teams can always bring their best to what they do.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.
