Lead Technical Artist

Lead Technical Artist role at Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio. As the Lead Technical Artist, you will take a strategic role in bridging the gap between art and technology, driving the visual and technical excellence of our projects. You will lead a team of Technical Artists and collaborate with art directors, developers, engineers, and producers.

At Black Shamrock, we are dedicated to creating exceptional gaming experiences. As part of the Virtuos family, we leverage cutting-edge technology and innovative artistry to deliver high-quality games across various platforms. Join our dynamic team and help shape the future of gaming

As the Lead Technical Artist, you will lead the development of advanced tools, efficient pipelines, and innovative shaders, including procedural content solutions. Your leadership will elevate the artistic vision, technical quality of art content, and overall gameplay experience.

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of Technical Artists to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality art content optimized for performance.
• Act as the communication bridge between the client's Technical Art team and your team.
• Collaborate with artists, designers, and engineers to identify and solve complex technical challenges related to art content pipelines and workflows.
• Architect, develop, and implement advanced shaders, tools, scripts, and procedural content generation systems to enhance productivity and innovation.
• Oversee engine profiling and optimization efforts, communicating performance insights and ensuring adherence to technical budgets.
• Champion research and prototyping of new technologies and techniques, including procedural content generation within Unreal Engine, to elevate art quality and pipeline efficiency.
• Define, document, and enforce content creation guidelines, technical standards, and best practices throughout the production cycle.
• Facilitate cross-disciplinary knowledge sharing, training, and documentation to empower teams and improve workflows.
• Partner with technical and production leads to plan and allocate resources effectively for art technical needs.

• Minimum 5+ years in a technical artist role within AAA game development.
• Proven leadership experience in managing or leading technical art teams.
• Demonstrated experience with Unreal Engine PCG systems is essential.

• Strong leadership and team management skills, capable of motivating and guiding a diverse group of technical artists.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a collaborative and constructive approach to feedback.
• Deep understanding of art and animation pipelines in AAA game development.
• Expertise in engine performance profiling and complex optimization techniques.
• Proven ability to architect and scale technical art tools and pipelines for large projects.

• Proficient in Python; skilled in C++/C#/Blueprints for tool and shader development.
• In-depth expertise in Unreal Engine, with a strong foundational and practical skillset in procedural content generation (PCG) workflows, including the design, implementation, and optimization of PCG systems to support dynamic and scalable environments.
• Strong command of version control systems and content memory/performance budgeting.
• Advanced shader development and customization experience within Unreal Engine.
• Experience with 3D applications such as Blender, 3DS Max, or Maya.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and integrate new technologies, languages, and tools.
• Experience reviewing and providing constructive feedback on peers' technical work/code.

• Extensive experience creating procedural content tools and pipelines using Houdini or similar procedural generation software, complementing and extending Unreal PCG capabilities.
• Knowledge of Substance Designer/Painter for advanced material and texture creation.
• Development of batch processing and automation tools for repetitive art and technical tasks.
• Expertise in texture compression techniques and advanced material workflows relevant to real-time rendering.
• Strong foundational skills in art content creation and core visual principles, with the ability to integrate artistic vision into procedural workflows and technical solutions.

Founded in 2004, Virtuos is one of the largest independent video game development companies. We are headquartered in Singapore with over 4,200 employees across 25 offices in Asia, Europe, and North America. Specializing in full-cycle game development and art production, we have delivered high-quality content for more than 1,500 console, PC, and mobile games. Our clients include 23 of the top 25 gaming companies worldwide.

Black Shamrock was founded in 2016 and acquired by the Virtuos Group in 2017. The studio is Ireland's largest PC and console game development studio and provides unique opportunities to work on multiple AAA titles. Our people are diverse, exciting, creative, and dynamic as the projects we work on. Black Shamrock is a place for talent to flourish and lifelong industry connections to begin.

Our in-house and full-service capabilities include narrative, game, sound and level design, animation, art, rigging, engineering, and graphics. At Black Shamrock, we take pride in helping put Dublin on the world map as the birthplace of award-winning AAA games.

Seniority level: Mid-Senior level

Employment type: Full-time

Job function: Design, Art/Creative, and Information Technology

Industries: Computer Games

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