Lead Environment Artist in Horsham

Join Creative Assembly and craft deep and detailed games that last, entertaining millions of players across the globe for decades.

Creative Assembly is looking for an experienced Lead Environment Artist to join our team for the sequel to Alien: Isolation. The role is based at our headquarters in Horsham, in the heart of West Sussex.

As a Lead Environment Artist, you are responsible for managing and developing the environment art team to deliver visually stunning and immersive game environments that meet the project’s artistic and technical requirements. This role works closely with the Environment Art Director, Production team, and other discipline leads to ensure the successful execution of the environment art pipeline and uphold the established creative vision. This role can be offered as hybrid or in-studio within the country of employment. Further details can be discussed during the recruitment process.

What you’ll be doing

• Manage and mentor the environment art team, providing feedback, support, and guidance to ensure high-quality work and team productivity.
• Plan and schedule the team’s work, ensuring tasks are delivered on time and within budget.
• Oversee the execution of environment art tasks, maintaining quality standards set by the Environment Art Director.
• Collaborate with concept art, game design, and level design to create immersive and engaging gameplay spaces, ensuring alignment with the established environment art direction.
• Work with principal artists, technical artists and engineers to implement and maintain efficient and scalable art pipelines and tools.
• Participate in the development of art production schedules, coordinating with production to meet project milestones.
• Maintain expertise in industry tools, techniques, and trends, sharing knowledge to inform and improve the team’s work.
• Provide hands-on contribution by creating high-quality environment assets and scenes, setting benchmarks for the team.
• Implement feedback from the Environment Art Director and other stakeholders as appropriate.
• Help define and evolve environment art team working practices for future projects.

What we are looking for

• Demonstrable experience as a Lead Environment Artist in the video game industry, with proven experience in a leadership or management role.
• Strong artistic skills, with the ability to create compelling and visually stunning environments that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
• Experience working with partners and external teams, with the ability to effectively manage and collaborate with external art teams to deliver high-quality work on schedule and within budget.
• Strong understanding of structure, form, and construction.
• Expert knowledge of industry-standard 3D software such as Maya or 3ds Max, with knowledge of Blender.
• Expert knowledge of Unreal engine and at least one shipped title on Unreal engine.
• Experience with Substance Designer, Painter, and Photoshop.
• Experience leading and managing a team of artists, including providing feedback and mentoring.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams including artists, designers, and engineers.
• Self-motivated with a positive can-do attitude.
• Positive teamwork ethic. Collaboration and communication skills are important.
• A real passion and love for visual environment creation.
• Practicing good consideration for asset and level performance.
• Expertise in Blender and current modern software pipelines.
• Familiarity with procedural generation tools and techniques for diverse game environments.
• Knowledge of art direction and visual storytelling, with the ability to use environment art to convey narrative and emotion.
• Experience with level design and gameplay mechanics, with the ability to design and create game spaces that are both visually stunning and engaging to play.
• Familiarity with game optimization techniques, with the ability to balance quality and performance to create immersive environments that run smoothly on a variety of hardware configurations.

About Creative Assembly

We care deeply about the experiences we create and put our players at the heart of our decisions. We are all game makers; no matter our role we are empowered to make significant contributions to our games, supported by skills development and growth opportunities.

Most roles at Creative Assembly are hybrid; what this looks like will be discussed during the interview process. For many teams, this is 3 days a week in the studio. CA has the right to change requirements based on the needs of the business.

We offer many benefits to support you and your family including:

• Work from Anywhere for a temporary period each year (restrictions apply such as VISAs)
• Enhanced holiday allowance, maternity and paternity breaks, flexibility with our core hours, and no-notice holidays
• Bespoke relocation package for you and your dependents
• Private medical and dental insurance, life insurance, permanent health insurance, critical illness cover and free health care screening
• Additional benefits ranging from free games and work parties to discount on technology
• Wellbeing support and virtual confidential counselling

We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief. Our studio sites have disabled access.