Lead Look Dev Artist - Gears of War - The Coalition - Microsoft

The Coalition is a Microsoft first-party development studio located in Vancouver, Canada. We are the official home of the Gears of War franchise, and our objective is to forge the future of the IP and push the limits of Microsoft’s entertainment platforms and devices. Our team is comprised of deep creative and technical talent from across our industry and beyond, working cohesively to delight our fan base and pass expectations of what is possible. As a studio, we lead from our values and work together to promote respect and inclusion, a growth mindset, G.R.I.T (Guts, Resourcefulness, Initiative & Tenacity), all while putting our team first! Join us and let’s go far together!

This is a great opportunity for a Lead Look Dev Artist to deliver on high quality AAA game art through your shading, surfacing/texturing, modeling and sculpting skills. You will be setting up and maintaining material pipelines, collaborating with other departments, assisting in material library creation, as well as supporting our artists with documentation and collaboration. Working on AAA console titles, you will work on creating top of the line materials in collaboration with your team and may occasionally help model and texture environments.

• Create believable and tactile textures, real-time materials and material functions for character and environment assets (gameplay and cinematic) in Unreal.
• Collaborate with Art, Tech Art and Engineering partners to ensure high quality results are achieved in an efficient and performant way.
• Maintain material libraries by adhering to PBR workflows and setting best practices for art teams to follow.
• Manage a small growing team of look dev artists.
• Follow the latest technology advancements and evaluate how they can impact and improve our pipelines and workflows.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's Degree or Certificate in Design, Fine Arts, Human Computer Interaction, Visual Communications or related art field AND 4+ years experience in art design or a related art field working on computer games or entertainment.

  • OR equivalent experience.

• 2+ years of people management, lead, or mentoring experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• A high-quality portfolio demonstrating your ability to create high-quality assets.
• Experience creating materials in a believable and credible style.
• You have a high competency in software needed to create high quality look dev assets (with Substance, Maya,  Z-Brush, Marmoset, Mixer, Photoshop, or similar.)
• You have experience using Unreal Engine.
• You possess excellent communication skills.
• You are a self-motivated worker who is comfortable working under deadlines and communicating outside your domain.
• Houdini knowledge is a plus.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

#gamingjobs