Full-Time Senior Technical Artist (Shader Development and Performance)
Schell Games is a highly talented group of artists, programmers, producers, and game designers led by game industry veteran Jesse Schell. We're the largest full-service education and entertainment game development company in the United States. Since 2002, we've worked with world-class clients and partners to create interactive experiences that engage and inspire players of all ages across all platforms. Presently, we are focused on virtual reality, augmented reality, location-based experiences, and social games.
Do you like to work on innovative projects in a motivating, friendly atmosphere? Would you agree that games can engage and inspire?
If you answered "YES!" to both questions, you might be a fit for our studio!
Schell Games is currently seeking a talented Senior Technical Artist to join our current team to develop high-end 3D experiences for traditional gameplay development as well as location-based attractions. Team experience is essential, as is the ability to be self-directed and be able to prioritize your workload efficiently and collaborate closely with the development team. Candidates should have previous experience guiding and mentoring more junior technical artists, and be able to work well as a team member or as a small team tech art lead. A focus on creating and optimizing shader solutions and pipelines to meet aesthetic goals is a requirement.
Our ideal candidate will have the ability to handle both technical and artistic issues during game development as well as be able to work quickly in a team atmosphere with schedules and reliable milestone delivery.
EXPECTATIONS OF SENIOR LEVEL ROLES AT SCHELL GAMES:
You are an expert in your discipline and share your knowledge with the studio. You have formed strong relationships inside and outside of the studio that allow you to leverage your expertise for the greatest impact. You think strategically about your craft and contribute heavily to your discipline community. You can be relied upon by your department leadership to represent your craft discipline.
You consistently build highly productive relationships by respecting your team members and clients, while effectively giving and addressing feedback. You set a high bar for delivery and hold others accountable, leveling up your team. You do this by demonstrating humility and empathy, building others' trust in you, and defaulting to trusting others. You maintain composure in the face of change and challenges.
You are deeply familiar with development methodologies and best practices. You identify and help improve faulty processes. You help solve problems. You drive consensus and move your projects toward their goals. You recognize and build off others' contributions.
Others consistently look to you as a leader (whether or not you are formally in that role). You quickly resolve conflicts, involving yourself or among others. You use empathy to seek understanding and common ground. You are a prime example to others of what a member of your discipline should be, and you actively promote those values. You respect and empathize with your colleagues and clients.
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:
- Collaborate with Engineers and Artists to establish and maintain standards for profiling and performance across multiple projects and platforms
- Work with Engineers and Artists to define project graphic goals and steps to meet them, design and run tests on the latest shaders/assets
- Work with Engineers and Artists to define frame rate and memory optimization goals on a per-project basis
- Discover graphic bottlenecks and work with Artists and Engineers to unblock them while meeting aesthetic goals
- Assist Engineers with high level graphic solutions to visual and performance issues
- Creating and iterating on materials, working with Art Directors to achieve their desired look
- Provide and maintain technical documentation for team use and posterity between projects for the studio
- Educate Artists about best practices in regards to render pipelines and assist with periodically evaluating Artist performance awareness
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED:
- Be able to work independently to solve problems related to render pipelines
- At least 5+ years of experience in interactive game development and at least 1 shipped game
- At least 3+ years of experience with shaders and performance strategies
- Portfolio or other showcase of work developed in UE4 and/or Unity
- Experience with advanced materials, lighting, and rendering pipelines
- Working knowledge of UE4 and/or Unity engine capabilities is necessary
- Expert knowledge of PBR and modern render pipeline
- Flexibility with adoption of art styles and direction is critical
- Ability to learn and adapt quickly to new technologies
DESIRED SKILLS:
- BS/BA/BFA degree in graphic design, fine arts, animation, visual communication, or similar preferred
- Formal experience mentoring and/or managing generalist or technical artists
- Working knowledge of shader languages (HLSL, GLSL)
- Working knowledge of RenderDoc
- Working knowledge of UE4’s and/or Unity’s built in tools for performance profiling
- Strong understanding of node based scripting as it relates to shaders and UE4 and/or Unity
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
DEI COMMITMENT:
Our studio is committed to providing an equitable and inclusive work environment that ensures that all applicants and team members are treated with dignity and respect. We will not tolerate any type of discrimination or harassment directed at any applicant or employee because of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, veteran, family or parental status or any other protected group characteristic. This equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment including recruitment, hiring, promotions, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training.
Prohibiting discrimination and harassment is only one part of the equation. “Diversity makes us strong” is more than just something we say. We value diversity in all forms because it is essential to our success, and we want every member of our team to feel their best creative self. Our development environment and social culture are based on welcoming, respecting, and celebrating differences among our team members and our players. We rely on each person to add their own unique skills and perspective to our culture. Every member of our team is responsible for making the studio as inclusive and equitable as possible.