Lead Environment Artist - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA

About the position

At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people. We are looking for a Lead Environment Artist to help us define and craft Blizzard's next great game. As a key member of the development team, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality Environment work through artistic and technical knowledge, team building, and leadership. You understand how to effectively build, integrate, and optimize a variety of Environment content that supports gameplay and hits iconic visual standards. You are comfortable operating in a startup environment, navigating through ambiguity with purpose. This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with the Art Director, you will collaborate with designers, artists, code, Materials, VFX and Lighting departments to define and deliver game environments to a world class standard.
• Use your expertise in Environment Art creation to guide our working practices from iterative prototyping to final best-in-class execution.
• Create artifacts (content creation briefs, presentations) to guide the work of internal and external artists.
• Directly contribute to and oversee the practical work of taking Environments from concept to completion.
• Remain current on industry trends including advancement in commercial game engines and workflow efficiencies.
• Own and drive the most creatively challenging artwork, demonstrating the high bar for your department.
• Proactively identify risks and propose solutions within the area of Environment Art creation.
• Level up your team's abilities through mentorship of skills, process, and artistic techniques.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in AAA Environment Art.
• Proven experience, having shipped multiple major titles in a relevant role.
• Experience in a Leadership position managing a team of Artists.
• Experience working with a AAA game engine with strong understanding of implementation and integration into the pipeline.
• Comprehensive understanding of all aspects of Environment Art creation including strong proficiency in industry-standard 3D workflows.
• A portfolio, with examples and detailed breakdowns, showcasing your work.
• Strong understanding of authoring PBR content.
• Experience developing pipelines and collaborating with Engineers and Tech Artists to develop technology.
• A team-oriented approach to your work, understanding the importance of collaboration, and partnering with all departments.
• The ability to Inspire others with an enthusiastic approach to game development and improving core skills.
• Self-motivated ability to lead initiatives.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working through early development R&D phases of a project is a plus.
• Solid understanding of game art creation outside of Environment Art (e.g. Lighting, VFX, Characters, Animation, Rendering).
• An interest in Photography and Cinema.
• Experience creating and handling photogrammetry data.
• Expertise in 3D composition, form, balance, and color theory.
• Passion for playing a variety of video games.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance.
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching.
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave.
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others.
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.