Technical Artist

Summary:
Naughty Dog is seeking an experienced Technical Artist to join our studio. This strong communicator would work closely with Art and Engineering to develop assets, tools, and new standards and workflows – whatever it takes to push the beauty of our games to new levels!

“Technical Artist” is a very broad category, and every Technical Artist has a unique set of skills. You may consider yourself to be a generalist, or you may be laser-focused on one particular part of the pipeline. If you think you’ve got what it takes to help Naughty Dog raise the bar, we’d like to hear from you!

Responsibilities:

• Create tools to improve the art team’s efficiency (this includes Maya scripts, but also standalone scripts and software)
• Work with the engineering team to develop features, both for the game engine and for tools/asset pipelines
• Help ensure feature interfaces are user-friendly
• Develop visual features of the game, whether that’s writing shader code, pioneering new asset creation techniques, or creating technical prototypes and mockups
• Help the team develop workflows and standards for efficient content generation
• Support the content team in debugging issues with the game, tools, etc.
• Help drive framerate and memory optimization of the game
• Work within all the art departments (environment, characters, VFX, animation, etc.) to ensure all dependencies are met
• Create art assets that require high technical skill or specialist knowledge
• Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed, or if you can show us a better way to do things!

Requirements & Skills:

• Intermediate programming experience with Maya, Python and shading languages
• Ability to write robust code, both from a functionality standpoint and an architectural standpoint
• Experience in C++ or related languages is a plus
• Strong artistic background and content development skills (can be modeling, texturing, lighting, or any other area where you have experience, but a strong artistic eye is a necessity!)
• Excellent problem solving skills and the ability to work with minimal supervision
• High-level familiarity with every aspect of game development, and how different disciplines collaborate
• Good oral and written skills
• 3+ years of production experience *Maya Preferred*

As part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates should expect to be given a technical interview and may be asked to complete an art test.