Senior Technical Artist in Stockton-on-Tees

Radical Forge is a UK-based developer that has provided co-development services on a range of AAA and indie titles. In 2021 the company created their first original IP, ‘Bright Paw’, which was published on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One/Series S/X, Google and iOS by Rogue Games. We are currently working on our newest IP, Southfield, which you can look forward to playing soon! Since its beginnings in 2017, the company has grown to over 60 incredibly talented, collaborative, and creative individuals. We are the sum of our skills, passion, and, most of all, our people. We firmly believe that treating individuals with genuine respect, understanding, and kindness creates a welcoming culture that allows creativity to thrive and for individuals to join together to create games they are genuinely proud of.

Radical Forge is looking for a Senior Technical Artist. The role requires you to work collaboratively alongside Leads, to carry out project work, provide technical expertise and insight to projects, and provide mentorship to other technical artists. We are seeking a team player with an inclusive and empathetic approach. You will be required, on a per project basis, to take ownership of a range of technical art responsibilities, including lighting and VFX. Owning and defining technical art deliverables, quality, and their impact on player experience. You should set an artistic standard for the team in your areas of expertise. Demonstrating best practices consistently and can be relied on to track and manage consistent tech art quality. You will be expected to act as a paragon within the department and assist peers where necessary. You should be able to work autonomously, but thrive under the banner of collaboration.

Skills & Experience

• Leadership & Communication: Able to actively offer art feedback to other team members and routinely collaborate cross discipline. Assist with the reviewing of work from other Team members. Actively contribute to discussions and seek out peer feedback. Comfortable with mentoring and the skilling up of peers. Able to work in a management capacity in the absence of a lead, and can actively contribute to the improvement of the Tech Art department as a whole.
• Independence & Responsibility: Able to work autonomously when required. Comfortable taking ownership for project features and managing small teams of other artists. Understands how their current task contributes to the project as a whole.
• Asset Creation Skills: Has developed a wide understanding of 3D art creation processes, and is able to utilise this knowledge to enhance development and improve optimisation. Has a working knowledge of C++ / C# and can utilise this to assist with the creation of tools and feature implementation where necessary.
• Task Management: Comfortable operating across multiple projects simultaneously, and capable of managing their own time effectively with minimal supervision. Able to work closely alongside other departments to deliver tasks effectively.
• Source Control: Comfortable with at least one industry-standard source control system. Can utilise source control to independently contribute to a project. Understands the importance of a clean working environment to reduce the introduction of issues for other team members. Knows how to fix and assist other members of the team with source control issues as they arise.
• Game Engine Competency: Is highly proficient in at least one industry-standard game engine and understands its processes, even outside of the tech art role. Able to utilise this knowledge to inform pipelines and generate tools where required. Has a good working knowledge of at least one other industry standard game engine and understands how this knowledge can be transferable.
• Performance & Optimisation: Has an understanding of game specific technical constraints and works within them. Understands target hardware limitations and how to work with them to create the best possible solution. Can utilise existing game engine features to improve performance. Has experience with profiling tools to identify performance issues and offer informed optimisation solutions.
• Shader Competency: Comfortable creating complex shader systems using visual scripting systems. Understands shader logic and how to achieve visual effects that match the intended project style. Has an informed understanding of shader performance and best practices. Has knowledge of at least one shader scripting language and can use this to create shaders within engine where necessary.
• Lighting: Has an informed understanding of how light systems work within an industry-standard game engine. Able to light a scene with narrative intent. Understanding how colour/brightness can have an effect on atmosphere and mood. Is able to set up complex lighting solutions. Can communicate lighting best practices and has a clear understanding of how this affects target platform and visual performance.
• VFX: Can create complex particle systems within an industry-standard game engine. Is capable of creating visual effects that match the intended project style. Works well with other departments and has a basic understanding of how to implement particle systems for animation / cutscenes etc. Is competent creating detailed screen effects utilising an engine's render pipeline where required. Understands the impact of visual effects on a game's performance. Is able to champion solutions to visual effect problems. Able to work autonomously to fully implement the desired visual solution if required.
• Project Experience: Has multiple released (or full project cycle) projects, including a variety of styles and target platforms. (This can include cancelled, but close to fully developed, projects.)

Requirements

• 3D software experience (e.g. Maya, 3DSMax, Blender, Substance suite)
• Shader development experience (Unity Shadergraph / Amplify and UE Material Editor)
• VFX development experience (VFX Graph, Niagara)
• Knowledge of a scripting language (C++ / C# / HLSL)
• Knowledge of an engine level graphics debugger (RenderDoc or equivalent)

This role is fully remote within the UK. We will require all applicants to have a pre-existing right to work in the UK.

Equal Opportunities Promise: All employment decisions are made without regard to race, colour, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status or veteran status. We will also consider employment for qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law.