[Hiring] Senior Tech/VFX Artist @Panic Stations

Role Description

We’re looking to bring on a Senior Tech/VFX Artist for a 6 month contract, with potential to extend further depending on how things go.

We’re looking for a Senior Technical Artist that has strong experience creating VFX and development tools to contribute to art production on an exciting unannounced co-op combat game, and support Tech Art on multiple projects across the studio.

Key Responsibilities

• Own VFX and Technical Art
  • Making the VFX for the game and creating solutions and tools to speed up the art development pipeline.
  • Success looks like:
    • Owning the VFX pipeline and crafting fun, playful and physical visuals for a combat heavy game.
    • Using VFX to clearly communicate gameplay, impacts and player feedback.
    • Grasping the project art style and technical requirements and adapting quickly.
    • Identifying repetitive or inefficient workflows and building lightweight tools, automation and procedural solutions to speed up content production.
• Be a Force Multiplier, Not Just an Asset Maker
  • Communicating and collaborating across disciplines, problem-solving the gaps between art, design and engineering.
  • Joining playtests and contributing to the game experience beyond art.
  • Identifying risks and constraints early and redirecting effort when needed.
  • Being pro-active and moving the project forward, even if you’re waiting for feedback or currently blocked.
• Implement Assets in Engine
  • Importing, setting up and hooking up assets.
  • Correctly handling setup for materials, prefabs, folders and naming etc.
  • Fixing materials, collision and general art bugs in engine.
  • Spotting inefficiencies and offering better solutions.
  • Keeping assets and scenes well optimized without sacrificing the game’s vision.

Qualifications

• Senior experience level. Comfortable working autonomously with high level direction, championing your area of responsibility.
• Comfortable supporting multiple projects, overseeing the studio’s Tech Art Pipeline and utilising emerging technologies.
• Broad artistic & technical skillset: VFX creation and supporting 2D / 3D assets, tool creation and automation, understanding of artistic game development pipelines.
• Confident in Unity; create and hook up particle systems in engine, use scripting / visual scripting to bridge the gap between art and code, diagnose and fix VFX issues.
• Comfortable in Blender (preferred) or able to transition quickly.
• Happy to prioritize speed & efficiency.
• Project first mindset: Our games look good but we’re not trying to win art awards or build stunning portfolio pieces. The experience is king.
• General understanding of supporting optimization and performance for online multiplayer titles (from an art POV).
• Bonus skills: Shader creation, Rigging, Animation Implementation / Set Up, C# Scripting.

Requirements

• Please note: This is a 6 month contract, remote-working position, open to anyone within the UK.