Environment Outsource Artist (Project Hire)

That's No Moon is an independent studio of storytellers and game-makers who believe in the power of narrative-driven experiences. With a diverse team of talented developers, from some of the top game studios in the world (Naughty Dog, Infinity Ward, Bungie), our shared vision is to create the future of AAA experiences with a culture of creativity, collaboration, and responsible production practices. Our passionate team of developers help shape our studio, our projects, and our future.

The ideal candidate would be a hardworking artist who is able to connect with the internal team and outsource partners, including detailing existing pipelines, collecting or crafting quality bar and technical example assets, collecting photo reference, crafting effective briefs, crafting asset block outs, creating simple paint overs, packaging all files to send off to the external artists, reviewing external artist deliveries, integration of assets into the game engine and final polishing of assets. 

Responsibilities: 

• Work with the Art Director and Art Leads to establish visual direction and quality bar for our external partners 
• Communicate cross-discipline with artists, level designers, game designers, and production to understand needs and goals of assets being built externally 
• Collect reference images and create effective briefs for external partners, based on the needs communicated by the internal team 
• Collect or generate detailed documentation, video reference, and examples of art asset production, procedures, and engine requirements to support the external partners 
• Clearly presenting feedback to the external partner, and ensuring those creative notes and goals are met 
• Advising leadership of asset production progress and call out any production, quality, or scheduling issues 
• Share regular updates with internal team to provide visibility on progress of external asset production 
• Provide prototype meshes with accurate scale and pivot placement, with understanding of the technical constraints, including vert count management, material setup, and PBR texture creation 
• Evaluate effort estimations to ensure workdays are in-line with current project schedules 
• Build and/or modify existing assets as necessary, may be required to build both hard surface and soft bodied assets from scratch 
• Set Dressing: This includes placement of objects for both aesthetic and gameplay purposes; ideally should have an understanding of environmental storytelling 
• Test levels in-game and assess both aesthetics and performance in Unreal 

Requirements & Skills: 

• Completed work on several published AAA game titles preferred 
• Experienced shipping production assets for games, specifically within the Environment subject area 
• Professional understanding of tool suites such as: Photoshop, Substance Designer/Painter, ZBrush, Maya, Perforce and Unreal 
• Experience working with external outsource partners 
• Understanding of in-game art asset creation including hard surface props, soft rigid assets such as clothing items, vehicles, weapons, etc. 
• (Bonus) Experience with set dressing within a game engine (Unreal, Crytek, or proprietary) 

Qualities: 

• Excellent foundations skills, including composition, design, and color theory 
• Ability to find creative solutions for technically exciting tasks 
• Ability to critique, mentor, and improve art through written feedback loops 
• Ability to manage own time and see tasks through from start to finish 
• Proactive and solution-oriented mindset 
• Experienced working within a team and a high-pressure production environment 

(This is a temporary “Project Hire” position. The anticipated duration of this assignment will vary. TNM Project Hire employees will be eligible to participate in a number of TNM benefit plans such as medical, dental, vision, 401(k) matching, and flexible PTO)

TNM considers a number of factors when determining each role's base pay range, including industry benchmarks, location, experience, and other job specific skills. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for other incentive compensation including equity and profit share. The estimated base pay range for this role is U.S. only and not applicable for locations outside of the U.S.

The estimated base pay range for this role is: $85,000 - $114,000

TNM offers competitive and comprehensive benefits that include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) match, flexible PTO, supplemental life and disability, and more. Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary based on country of residence and/or part-time or temporary employment status.

That's No Moon is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ancestry, color, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, legally protected physical or mental disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.