Lead Technical Artist

Stack

Responsibilities

• ▹Profile game content and resolve performance bottlenecks in collaboration with Art and Engineering
• ▹Optimise geometry, materials, shaders, textures, lighting, foliage and VFX to meet performance and memory budgets
• ▹Help artists apply best practices for LODs, instancing, streaming and content scalability across target platforms
• ▹Conduct content reviews and develop validation tools to identify technical issues early
• ▹Develop and maintain tools that support efficient environment creation, including terrain, foliage, procedural generation and asset placement
• ▹Partner with Environment Art and Level Design to improve world-building workflows and troubleshoot production issues
• ▹Implement established standards for modular assets, materials and content organisation
• ▹Document tools and workflows, helping artists adopt them effectively
• ▹Lead the day-to-day work of a small Technical Art team, coordinating priorities and deliverables with Production and technical leadership
• ▹Mentor Technical Artists through feedback, technical reviews and hands-on problem-solving
• ▹Balance individual contributions with delegation, giving team members clear ownership and opportunities to grow
• ▹Communicate progress, dependencies and technical risks to project leadership
• ▹Coordinate initiatives with Tech Art Leads on other projects in the same development environment
• ▹Help establish usage guidelines and train artists on approved workflows, following studio policies for intellectual property, licensing and data security
• ▹Evaluate results against quality and efficiency goals, recommending which workflows to refine or expand

Requirements

• ▹Experience shipping and supporting a live-service game
• ▹Strong professional experience in technical art for games, including contributions to a shipped title or comparably complex production
• ▹Experience leading or mentoring Technical Artists and coordinating technical work across disciplines
• ▹Practical knowledge of real-time rendering, profiling, content optimisation and performance budgets
• ▹Experience with world-building pipelines, procedural workflows, LOD systems and content streaming
• ▹Proficiency with Unreal Engine, Unity or a proprietary game engine
• ▹Scripting or programming experience for tool development, using languages such as Python, C# or C++
• ▹Familiarity with shader and material development, alongside tools such as Houdini, Maya or Blender
• ▹Strong problem-solving, communication and prioritisation skills, with an appreciation for artistic quality

Soft skills

What we offer

• ▹Epic's generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs for most employees
• ▹Annual base pay: New York USD 235,042-344,728, California USD 215,456-316,001, Washington USD 195,869-287,274

About the company

Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company that has made award-winning games and engine technology for over 30 years. Unreal Engine lets developers build high-fidelity interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile and VR.