Character Art Lead

The role

The Character Art Lead will lead the character art team and define visual quality and direction. This person will set artistic and technical standards and make strategic decisions for the character art pipeline and production process.

What you will do

• Lead, mentor, and provide artistic direction and feedback to the character art team.
• Partner with the Art Director to establish visual language and artistic standards.
• Make strategic decisions around character art workflows, pipelines, tools, and processes.
• Establish priorities and allocate character art resources across internal teams, outsourcing, and co-development partners.
• Work with Production and Directors to assess scope, prioritize work, and identify risks.
• Evaluate character art at key stages to ensure assets meet artistic and technical standards.
• Collaborate with Animation, Technical Art, and Engineering to ensure character integration.
• Define and maintain character art documentation, workflows, and best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve the character art pipeline and address production challenges.
• Stay current with evolving character art techniques and technology.

Required qualifications

• 7+ years of professional character art experience in the video game industry, including experience guiding or leading other artists.
• Proven experience setting artistic direction, establishing quality standards, and making strategic decisions for a character art team.
• Experience creating character pipelines from the ground up.
• Proven experience in pre-production as well as shipping titles.
• Familiarity establishing artistic and technical workflows to tackle all the complexities of a AAA character art pipeline.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality character assets for AAA game titles.
• Strong understanding of character modeling, sculpting, texturing, anatomy, form, proportion, and silhouette.
• Significant experience with Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine.
• Strong understanding of modern PBR character art workflows and technical requirements of production-ready assets.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate complex artistic and technical challenges and make effective decisions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, Game Art, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to have

• Previous experience as a Character Art Lead, Character Art Director, or similar senior leadership role on a major game title.
• Experience managing or directing external art vendors, outsourcing partners, or co-development teams.
• Experience establishing character art pipelines and workflows for a new project or studio.
• Experience with character rigging, skinning, or other downstream character production disciplines.
• Knowledge of Marvelous Designer or similar clothing and garment simulation tools.
• Experience with rigid body dynamics, cloth simulation, or other character-related simulation workflows in Unreal Engine.
• Experience hiring, developing, and building high-performing character art teams.

Benefits

• Vacation time
• Sick time
• Company holidays
• Parental leave
• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• 401(k) matching

About the company

absurdventures is seeking a Character Art Lead to lead their character art team.