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Tech Art Intern - Summer 2025

San Francisco, CA

Technical Artist Intern, Pokémon GO (Summer 2025)

​​Pokémon GO is the global gaming sensation that has been downloaded over 1 billion times and named “Best Mobile Game” by the Game Developers Choice Awards and “Best App of the Year” by TechCrunch. Pokémon GO follows Niantic’s mission of encouraging outdoor exploration, exercise, and significant social interactions, and has grossed over $6B in revenue since its debut in 2016. In order to delight our millions of players across the globe, the Pokémon GO team requires motivated and skilled individuals to develop new features and look for creative ways to optimize a continually growing game.

We are seeking a Technical Artist Intern to join us for 3 months with creative and technical skills and an interest in further developing your expertise. You will be mentored by an experienced team of Technical Artists. You will have projects to select from that align with the area of expertise you want to specialize and grow in as a Technical Artist. We invite you to bring your curiosity and passion as you help us to solve problems!

Responsibilities

  • Engage in regular communication and mentorship with your leads and mentors.
  • Participate in designing, developing, and implementing solutions.
  • Adhere to asset implementation and coding standards and incorporate feedback from reviews.
  • Collaborate with fellow Technical Artists, Artists, Game Designers, and Engineers as needed to complete your intern project and solve creative problems.
  • Required in-office minimum 2 days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Qualifications

  • Currently enrolled as a Bachelor’s or Master’s student in Arts, Computer Science, or related field.
  • Portfolio demonstrating basic knowledge and understanding of Technical Art skills. See the Portfolio Advice section for more details.
  • Experience in Python, C#, or similar scripting languages.
  • Experience in Unity 3D.

Plus If...

  • Experience with digital content creation (DCC) tools such as Maya and Photoshop.
  • Experience developing tools for artists or designers.
  • Experience with source/version control systems such as Git or Perforce.
  • Experience writing shaders (HLSL or GLSL).
  • Experience with implementing UI/UX designs in a game engine.

Portfolio Advice

  • Pick your top 3-5 projects or best works. Focus on a specialty area you want to develop such as asset management, rigging, material/shader authoring, technical animation, or tools in applications such as Maya or Unity.
  • Online portfolio is required such as ArtStation or a personal website with video or screenshots. Please include written explanations for each piece you showcase.
  • Test that your portfolio content is accessible. Please include access to your portfolio on your resume in addition to the application form.

Additional Internship Details

  • In-Person Internship: Bellevue, WA or San Francisco, CA
  • 12 Week Internship
  • Competitive Pay: $35-45/hr
  • Relocation Assistance
  • In-Office Lunches & Snacks
  • Playtest our Games
  • Fun Activities: Learning & Social
  • Niantic Swag
  • Network building with other interns & Niantics!

Join the Niantic team!

Niantic's global-scale augmented reality platform and digital map powers spatial computing experiences in the real world. Incubated out of the Maps team at Google, Niantic first created Ingress and then Pokémon GO, a cultural phenomenon and hit game played by tens of millions of people each month. Niantic’s Lightship platform, which powers Pokémon GO, also supports the company's other games including Pikmin Bloom, Peridot and Monster Hunter Now. Developers use Niantic’s platform to build their own AR applications and experiences, either with the Lightship Platform or directly through the web with 8th Wall.

We believe that cultivating a workplace where our people are supported and included is essential to creating great products our community will love. Our mission emphasizes seeking and hiring diverse voices, including those who are traditionally underrepresented in the technology industry, and we consider this to be one of the most important values we hold close.

Niantic is a hybrid first company. We believe that in person interaction and collaboration fosters creativity, a sense of community, and is critical to our future success as a company. Our hybrid work schedules allow for a mix of remote and in-office work.

We're a hard-working, fun, and exciting group who value intellectual curiosity and a passion for problem-solving! We have growing offices located in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Bellevue, Kansas, London, Tokyo, Hamburg, Hyderabad, and Zurich. 

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Portfolio Requirements: Portfolio demonstrating basic knowledge and understanding of Technical Art skills in one or more areas such as asset management, rigging, material/shader authoring, technical animation, and tools in applications such as Maya or Unity. Pick your top 3-5 projects, ideally focused in the specialty area you want to focus on as a Technical Artist, that you found to be the most interesting or complex in a video demo reel or screenshots with written explanations as to why you thought these projects were interesting.

Application Timeline:  We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.  Our first review of portfolios will begin the week of January 6, 2025.

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