Senior Level Artist

Summary

Join Ghost Story Games, a self-publishing game development studio, as a Senior Level Artist to work on Judas, a highly anticipated game. You will be responsible for creating visually stunning environmental spaces that support gameplay and tell compelling visual stories. Collaborate with level design and other art teams to ensure visual assets are efficient and meet performance standards. The ideal candidate has established experience in the game industry, proficiency in real-time game engines, and a strong understanding of visual design principles. You will be a proactive problem solver, collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams. This role also involves mentoring junior artists and contributing to a positive studio culture.

Requirements

• Established experience in the game industry as a mid-level to senior Level Artist, preferably with experience working with larger, complex productions
• Proficient art and technical experience within a real-time Game Engine (Unreal 4 is a plus)
• Experienced eye for form, line, value, rhythm, composition, and crafting deliberate visual hierarchy reads (focus direction, small-medium-large shape balance, ‘80/20 rule’)
• Familiarity with performance evaluation and optimization – working mindfully within metrics to maintain a smooth player experience
• Experience with effective team-based iteration techniques, including a thoughtful consideration of the bigger picture of the overall game experience and creative vision and a ‘order of operation’ and ‘ROI’ approach to iterative development
• Ability to learn and understand technical tools and systems so they can be pushed to the limit to create the most visually interesting spaces
• Proactive problem solver that enjoys cross-department collaboration, asks engaging questions, and can thoughtfully pitch both creative and visual ideas, as well as technical and process improvements to benefit the quality and efficiency of the project
• For the Senior role, we are especially looking for individuals with experience and mindfulness towards both individual and team efficiency, and proven ability to work on more challenging cross functional tasks of a higher degree of ambiguity, with a great degree of autonomy
• Knowing what questions to answer in what order, when you should seek advice and help from others, and when you can take the initiative to the benefit of the overall team and project is key for the Senior level expectations
• Additionally, for the Senior role we expect a significant, positive force-multiplication contribution
• We highly value individuals that enjoy supporting and mentoring junior artists on the team and bring with them an excitement and willingness to learn and master new technical processes and pipelines for level art creation
• Over time we expect you to become a valuable resource that other artists and designers seek out for advice, and through positive engagement you contribute to a supportive and collaborative studio culture

Responsibilities

• Prototype and execute on visually stunning environmental spaces that are both well attuned to the gameplay experience and tell bold, cohesive visual stories in support of the script and overall vision of world
• Collaborate with level design to support gameplay, keeping in mind things such as navigation, pacing, compositional sight lines, cover, verticality, and AI
• Serve as the key driver of all visual assets supporting spaces under your responsibility. This includes highly proactive and collaborative engagement with Art Leadership, Level and Narrative Design, Concept Art, and External Art Vendors to plan, prototype, and implement supporting assets, within an established pipeline and technical specifications
• As a Senior Level Artist, you are also expected to keep active tabs on the performance profile of all levels under your responsibility, ensuring visual content is authored efficiently and fits within established memory and performance budgets
• For the Senior role we expect active collaboration beyond just your own content responsibilities, including working cross-functionally with other content disciplines to analyze the overall performance profile of spaces and strategize together on any balanced plans for optimization

Preferred Qualifications

• Passion for deeply narrative driven games, particularly First Person Shooters
• Additional traditional art or architecture background
• Experience working effectively and collaborative with a diverse mix of internal and distributed teams