Senior Technical Artist d3t - 12 Month Contract in Gateshead

This opportunity is a 12‑month fixed‑term contract (with possible extension) based in either of our UK studio sites (Daresbury or Newcastle) on a hybrid working basis. Working pattern: 3 days per week in the studio: Wednesday, Thursday, and one day of your choice.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain project art pipelines from inception and throughout the project life‑cycle.
• Support the art and animation team requirements and assist with resolving technical issues.
• Creating and integrating in‑house toolsets and creation of materials/shaders.
• Ensure all artwork hits memory and frame rate guidelines/restrictions by means of performance profiling.
• Collaborate with the artists and provide feedback on how they can improve the performance of the in‑game assets while maintaining visual fidelity.
• Able, when required, to take ownership of specific features of the game.
• Ensure all artwork adheres to guidelines regarding naming conventions, texture layering structures, etc.
• Keep up to date with industry advancements and technologies and share knowledge with the art team.
• Add to our library of tutorials, documents and technical guides to improve efficiency in the art pipeline and be proactive in finding solutions to technical issues.
• With a professional and organised approach, adhere to schedules and promptly feedback concerns regarding any aspects of the project.
• Ensure the right tasks are tackled in the right order, updating Jira, communicating progress and helping to manage team deliverables.
• Advise the Technical Art Leadership of resourcing concerns and production risks.
• Encourage and mentor other members of the Technical Art Team.
• Self‑driven, autonomous and confident, demonstrate responsibility for work quality and processes for both yourself and other members of the tech art team, actively contributing fresh ideas and encouraging the team.
• Confident with motivating Tech Artists, inspire colleagues to flourish and help promote a culture of collaborative innovation.

Qualifications

Essential Skills

• Enjoy the technical challenge and constraints of real‑time game art and have some understanding of modern rendering, shading and lighting techniques.
• Must be performance and quality focused.
• Must have an excellent working knowledge and proficiency in Maya and/or 3DS Max and an excellent in‑depth knowledge in Python.
• Excellent communication and organisation skills and confident working within a multidisciplinary art team.
• Evidence of being an enthusiastic leader or role model in an intermediate art role.
• Able to create materials/shaders and a good understanding of a PBR workflow.
• Excellent understanding of the technical limitations of current console hardware.
• Practical and methodical approach to technical and creative problem‑solving.
• Demonstrate dependability and commitment to projects and tasks, and a hunger to learn and improve as a Technical Artist.
• Flexible and calm approach with the ability to adapt to change.
• Ability to deliver quality work within fixed time constraints.
• Strong knowledge of modern game engines such as Unreal Engine or Unity.
• Excellent knowledge of current game development practices and terminology and a passion for staying up to date with latest technology and embracing newer game art techniques.

Desirable Skills

• Knowledge of other scripting languages is advantageous.
• Knowledge of the Maya API and programming in C++ or C# is advantageous.
• Some understanding of various other tools and software used in development, Photoshop, Substance, Houdini, etc. is also advantageous.
• Experience of working within game development for at least 4 years.
• At least three published titles.
• At least two full project cycles in an Intermediate Art position.

Benefits

• 22 days holiday + 3 festive studio closures + bank holidays.
• Company pension scheme.
• Flexible working hours.
• Private medical insurance scheme – BUPA.
• Anti‑crunch ethos – a professional, fun and supportive working environment.
• Free parking.
• Company socials, monthly lunches and annual d3t events.
• Breakout areas – filled with perks such as games, BBQ area, complimentary snacks to suit all dietary preferences.