Principal Technical Artist

Company: Pocket Gems
Location: Austin
Posted on: May 16, 2022

Job Description:

Pocket Gems seeks to build the greatest mobile games and most compelling interactive entertainment in the world. That's the mission our founders began with, in an apartment above a pizza shop back in 2009, and it continues to inspire us today. Since then, we've grown to over 200 people headquartered in San Francisco, and with $155 million in backing from Sequoia Capital and Tencent, we're constantly breaking new ground in mobile entertainment.
Our products have been downloaded over 500 million times by players around the world and have grossed over $1 billion in revenue. We continue to release brand new content for Episode, a mobile storytelling network and platform, and War Dragons, a visually stunning 3D real-time strategy game.
As our community of players continues to grow, we're committed to building diverse and inclusive environments across our teams, and in our games.
As a Principal Technical Artist at Pocket Gems, you will serve as an advocate for the Art department as well as the bridge between Art, Game Design, Engineering and the Central Infrastructure Team. By collaborating with these disciplines, you will help enhance the visual quality of the game by creating art tools, advocating optimal art/engineering performance techniques and suggesting efficient and thoughtful pipeline processes throughout the company. Your cross discipline pipeline expertise will be valuable in developing the processes, tools, and pipelines from which prototypes and fully produced games will spring forth. This role will affect not only early prototype teams, but our full production teams as well. You'll be a foundational member of a team that's working on bringing an innovative new game to market.
What We've Accomplished
Actively developing many prototypes of which, we will be moving the very best into production this year.
In our Core studio, War Dragons has been delighting our loyal fan base for over 7 years with innovative designs and a vibrant community of players.
In our Storytelling studio, Episode has also been delighting our readers and homegrown writers with new stories and features for over 7 years with a readership of over 1.5 million Daily Active Readers to this day.
Created a highly talented 3D focused art team that has launched one of the best looking games on mobile. (Wild Beyond)
What You'll Do
Work closely with the Art team to implement the artistic vision of the game and assist in asset production through building artist tools, pipelines and best practices.
Create and prototype ideas, technologies and concepts with other team members
Work closely with production focused teams to reach their launch goals.
Collaborate with Technical Artists, Engineers and the Central Infrastructure Team on the development of pipelines throughout the company
Level up your team's skills through mentorship of skills, process, and technical/artistic techniques
What You Bring To The Art Team
5+ years experience in game development serving in a technical art role creating tools for art pipelines including; rigging, scripting, shader development, and modeling
Expert knowledge of Unity
You're a master in one or more technical skills including: Unity pipeline/tools, VFX, animation, character rigging, tools scripting, or shader development and that you've shipped multiple AAA console, PC or mobile titles
Proficient with at least one development language such as Python, MEL, C#, or C++
Proven problem-solving/prototyping ability
Excellent work ethic, self-motivation, good communication skills, and a great team player
A passion for video games of course!
Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience
Extra Gems For
Prior mobile experience
Shipped major titles
Read more about what we've been up to!
Pocket Gems Blog
Note : This role is open to remote employment for those who reside in California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Washington state.
At Pocket Gems, we're building teams that value originality, inclusivity, and accountability -- and we hope to engage with talent based on these and other core values. We also offer competitive perks, such as flexible vacation, 401k matching, and a generous benefits package,
Pocket Gems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

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