Principal Technical Artist

T-Minus Zero is a new, first-party, remote first studio formed by veteran game developers. Our mission is to build epic, immersive action games where players from around the world play together to form strong vibrant communities around our games. Our studio culture begins with implicit trust in everyone we hire. We are an open, friendly, mature, and highly collaborative environment that expertly balances quality of life with quality of work. We are looking for people who have a passion for making great player experiences. If you are looking for new opportunities check out all our open positions to see if there's a match for you.

We are looking for an experienced Principal Technical Artist to join our team and play a crucial role in driving initiatives that bridge the gap between art and technology. In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of art and animation production, optimizing workflows, and ensuring the artistic vision is realized through efficient and effective technical solutions. Your expertise will be essential in driving technical art solutions and collaborating closely with both artists and engineers to improve the visual fidelity and performance of our games. This position is ideal for someone who possesses a strong technical background in game development with Unreal Engine, deep experience with real-time destruction and physics pipelines and their setup, advanced materials and shaders, and a hunger for technical innovation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop tools for the creation of pre-baked and dynamic destruction simulations for playback in real-time. Also, the creation of the content of these simulations.
• Partner with the Lead Tech Artist, artists, and engineers to develop and refine the art production pipeline and workflow best practices.
• Innovate shader creation techniques and maintain performant core material libraries.
• Develop and maintain tools and scripts in DCCs and UE to streamline art processes and improve team efficiency and empower creativity.
• Ability to effectively communicate, collaborate, and be a liaison with design, engineering, and production teams to execute on tasks within the technical constraints of the project.
• Train and support artists on new tools and techniques and create documentation.
• Troubleshoot and solve technical issues related to art and design tools from DCC to in-engine

Basic Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience in a technical artist role in the game industry and at least one shipped AAA title.
• Expert-level proficiency with Python and PyQt for tool creation.
• Deep in-production experience with Unreal Engine.
• Experience with setting up tool pipelines for physics and simulations for real-time applications such as Chaos or Houdini-based workflows.
• Strong knowledge of UE shader creation and rendering pipeline for creating complex materials.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work in a self-directed manner, plus a willingness to jump into the unknown and solve new problems; the ability to think creatively to resolve technical challenges and limitations.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Houdini, UE PCG, or other procedural generation tools and pipelines as they apply to game development.
• Experience identifying and driving frame-rate performance improvements that can be made through more efficient art assets.
• Experience supporting technical art needs of animators such as rigging tool creation and building rigs.

Compensation Range:

• United States: $150,000 - $200,000 USD

We are an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other protected status as required as by law.