Lead Character Artist

Job Title:
Lead Character Artist - Sledgehammer Games
- Requisition ID:
R017098
- Job Description:
**Your Platform**

Sledgehammer Games is situated in the San Francisco Bay Area; Melbourne, Australia; Toronto, Canada; and Guildford, UK. Across our four locations, we strive to be the most inclusive and supportive game studio we can be. We are extremely passionate about working together to make incredible AAA games for our players to enjoy and connect with.

We’re the studio behind Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty®: WWII, and Call of Duty®: Vanguard. With world-class audio, design, engineering, and art teams, we’ve been able to achieve some of the highest-quality game execution of any studio in the industry.

The strength of our team makes us not only excellent at what we do, but also how we do it. We firmly believe in supporting our talented employees to be the best they can be. Here at Sledgehammer Games, everyone is a game maker. We think it’s important to be constantly evolving, innovating, and taking risks - which are some of the most rewarding aspects of game development. We love what we do and work hard to make sure that each new game we make is even better than the last. Creativity is key, and we’re looking for talented game developers for our exciting next project.

**Your Mission**

Your mission is to encourage, mentor, and manage a team of high-calibre artists who build authentic characters that will be enjoyed by millions of gamers across the globe. Our Lead Artists are role-models that not only develop the team through challenge and change, but they also build up individuals into highly engaged, efficient, and effective teammates. Above all, we are looking for an innovative and dedicated leader to help tell our story.

**You Will**
- Share your passion and knowledge of character art in the films and games industry.
- Collaborate with Art Directors, Producers, Animators, and Tech Artists to deliver realistic characters for outstanding player experiences.
- Be a proactive self-starter that can independently complete high-level direction.
- Be a trusted gatekeeper for performance, efficiency, and quality.
- Define team goals, action plans, and schedules for the project.
- Provide your team with consistent mentorship, opportunities, and resources.
- Lead, task, mentor and conduct one-to-one meetings with your Character Artists.
- Empower artists to thrive with open and welcome constructive feedback.
- Champion standard methodologies and advocate towards streamlining tools and processes.
- Collaborate with other teams to ensure art requirements and plans are understood.
- Contribute creative and original ideas towards all aspects of game production and development.

**Player Profile**:
Minimum Requirements:

- 8+ total years in the games industry.
- Ability to lead by example echoed through a professional and egoless personality.
- Solid understanding of crafting weapon art assets in multiple major 3D and 2D packages (3DS Max or Maya and Photoshop or Substance) for console hardware (Xbox, PS, PC).
- Excellent understanding of Physically Based Rendering systems and techniques.
- Possesses in-depth knowledge of game engines, pipelines, and processes.
- Comprehensive understanding of human anatomy, and clothing and a keen eye towards form, shape, structure, and silhouette in regards to modelling.
- Rock-solid communication and problem-solving skills.
- Proven ability to thrive in an exciting and often ambiguous environment.
- Strong understanding of game art with ability to clearly discuss modern trends.
- Encouraging portfolio demonstrating focus and dedication to realistic characters and current gen 2D/3D asset creation; ideally demonstrating organic and hard surface character, clothing, and equipment/accessory models with high-quality materials and textures.

**Extra Points**:

- Marmoset Toolbag baking flow.
- Familiarity with photogrammetry process or procedural content creation.
- Strong traditional art foundation.
- History of playing a variety of game genres both digital and physical.

**Our World**

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's 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 wellbeing