Lead Character Artist

Spark is looking for an experienced Lead Character Artist to join us in making a breakout hit based on an established console franchise. This is an opportunity for you to have a hand in creating a bold new take on 3rd Person Action/Horror. You must have a cutting edge skills set, utilizing your technical knowledge and classic art training to create engaging and striking characters in a variety of styles. As Lead Character Artist, you will be responsible for making key assets, and for guiding your team in making the highest quality work. If you possess the skills, personality and leadership abilities to lead a team of bad-asses to take over the industry, we may have a job for you.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Game and Art Director to develop character goals and assets that fulfill the requirements of the project’s game and visual design.
• Work with all departments on the scheduling and integration of the character assets. Lead the integration of assets with designers, engineers and animators to create compelling in-game characters and props.
• Create high-quality characters at a quality bar suitable for next-generation console development.
• Lead the department on accomplishing the style, look and feel of the characters for key characters
• Lead the development of run-time game character procedures & pipelines.
• Drive the department to consistently meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity.
• Lead a group of character artists to create compelling and consistent models for all major characters.
• Work with Outsourcing department to provide feedback and integrate assets created by external teams.
• Work collaboratively with all levels of the development team, including active participation in Spark’s agile-development process. Cultivate a positive team dynamic, and exhibit a professional attitude by demonstrating a good balance between creativity and practical flexibility.

Requirements

• Lead Character Artist experience on current generation product
• Demonstrated professional experience, and exceptional visual and technical understanding in sculpting, 3D modeling & texturing (both high- & low-resolution characters).
• 4-5 years professional character modeling experience on multiple projects. Proven industry experience, including shipped game projects strongly preferred.
• Thorough understanding of Autodesk Maya, Mudbox or Zbrush.
• Experience and/or education in sculpting and drawing organic forms with an emphasis on human, biped and quadruped shapes.
• Experience sculpting facial blend shapes, facial animation and lip-synch.
• Experience with skeleton/rig creation.
• Excellent communication, time-management and organizational skills. A strong ability to work across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional issues. Penchant for practical innovation and the ability to bring new ideas to the table.
• Passionate player of games with an ability to analyze competitive products for their strengths and weaknesses.

Preferred Skills

• Art-related degree and/or comparable professional experience (B.A. or equivalent degree).
• Previous Character experience on multiple next generation console projects.
• Third-person action genre experience.
• Unreal 3 Engine experience.
  
• Experience working in an Agile/Scrum development environment.
  

• Applicants must be able to work at our Sherman Oaks, California studios.
• Email only. No visits or phone calls, please.
• The Subject line of your email must reference the job title and your name, like this: Lead Character: Last name, First name.
• Include your resume as an email attachment, preferably as a PDF or in Word 2003 or later format.
• Include links to online portfolio or send demo reel materials to Spark Unlimited, Attn: Character Dept, 15000 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 202, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. No drop offs please.
• Make sure your resume also includes your name, address, phone, and email.
• Send email to: art-jobC3460@sparkunlimited.com

 

Download Spark Non-Disclosure Agreement