Outsourcing Character Artist - Contract (Unannounced Project)

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide.

ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine.

We are looking for a Contract Outsourcing Character Artist to collaborate with the Character Art Lead and Outsourcing Art Lead in guiding external teams to deliver high-quality character assets that align with the game’s artistic vision and technical standards. This highly collaborative role focuses on supporting the Character Art Lead’s direction to ensure consistency and quality across all outsourced character content.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Following the visual guidance of the Character Art Lead, reviewing and providing feedback on outsourced assets (characters, heads, clothing, weapons, hair grooms, etc.).
• Support external partners by ensuring alignment with artistic direction, technical requirements, and production guidelines.
• Assist in troubleshooting, integrating, and refining outsourced assets to meet in-house quality bars.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders (concept, tech art, animation) to ensure smooth asset delivery and implementation.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation, feedback templates, and briefs to streamline communication with external partners.
• Provide prototype meshes with correct scale, pivots, topology, and optimization for real-time performance.
• Partner with the Outsourcing Art Lead and Character Art Lead to build briefs, collect approved references, and prepare outsourcing packages.
• Check assets into Perforce, finalize them in-engine, and make any required visual or technical adjustments.
• Provide artistic support when requested by the Character Lead, including cleanup, polish passes, or material adjustments.
• Contribute to the documentation of existing pipelines and support training of external teams.
• Participate in art reviews and provide clear, actionable feedback to vendors.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

• 2+ years of experience as a Character Artist in the game industry.
• Strong understanding of anatomy, proportion, topology, UV layout, and PBR workflows.
• Expertise in modeling and texturing characters, clothing, weapons, and hair.
• Proficiency with Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, and standard industry tools.
• Experience working within Unreal Engine 5.
• Familiarity with game engine constraints and optimization techniques for real-time rendering.
• Experience with physically based rendering and high-quality asset creation.
• Strong communication and organizational skills; ability to provide concise, actionable feedback.
• Self-motivated, with excellent time management and the ability to balance multiple tasks.
• Knowledge of rigging and animation requirements for clean deformation is a plus.
• Collaborative mindset, with the ability to take direction from the Character Lead and work constructively with external teams.

This is a one-year contract position. 

Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.