Principal Technical Artist

People Can Fly; Montreal; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a talented artist to maintain artistic direction and quality in game development. This role involves collaborating with diverse teams to enhance visual quality and optimize workflows. You will leverage your extensive experience in AAA game development and Unreal Engine to develop innovative solutions and improve asset quality. Join a passionate team dedicated to pushing the boundaries of creativity and technology, and contribute to exciting projects that redefine gaming experiences. If you are driven by artistic excellence and technical proficiency, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Benefits

100% paid benefit package

Full dental coverage

4% RRSP matching

Paid week off during Winter Holidays

20 paid vacation days

5 paid sick days

Free virtual health sessions

Performance-based annual bonuses

Personal development opportunities

Creative team environment

Qualifications

• 7+ years in AAA game development with 5+ years in Unreal Engine.
• Strong portfolio showcasing AAA quality work in engine.
• Advanced knowledge of real-time rendering challenges.

Responsibilities

• Maintain artistic direction and quality across development.
• Develop efficient workflows for the Art team.
• Collaborate with multiple disciplines to integrate work.

Skills

Unreal Engine

3D Modeling

Shader Programming

Visual Scripting

Technical Problem-Solving

Artistic Interpretation

Communication Skills

Education

Degree in Art Field

Tools

Maya

Max

ZBrush

Photoshop

Houdini

Python

C++

Job description

Job Description

Maintain artistic direction and quality

• Making final materials for characters, environment assets, and effects, also supports existing material systems.
• Content creation - mock up features in external programs or tweak shader code, experiment with features.
• Tweak assets by using modeling and texturing skills.
• Help improve and refine shader, texture, and lighting quality.
• Cooperate on setting artistic vision benchmarks and help define the style under Art Director/Lead supervision, maintaining quality standards across the entire development pipeline.

Production/deadline

• Maintain the production and software pipeline and meet deadlines.
• Develop powerful and efficient workflows for the Art team.
• Research and implement new techniques and procedures to improve game asset quality.
• Explore and help develop new technologies for integration into the asset pipeline.
• Responsible for managing and supervising bigger features and other project implementations.
• Bug fixing and describing R&D case studies in the knowledge base.

Feedback

• Participate in reviews, adapt to, and implement feedback from leads and peers in a professional manner.
• Provide feedback and improvement to visual quality.

Collaboration/Communication

• Work with developers in multiple disciplines and ensure that work gets integrated into the build.
• Collaborate with Tech Art and lead on R&D initiatives to explore new techniques and implement improvements to pipelines and workflows.
• Analyze and improve art asset inefficiencies to optimize console and PC performance.
• Knowledge sharing.
• Act as a liaison between the Engineering and Art departments.
• Identify and resolve pipeline issues without supervision.
• Use diagnostic tools to examine current content and identify areas for improvement as well as develop the tools.
• Work with programmers and artists to optimize content creation.
• Work with programmers on developing new features and workflows.
• Occasionally support leads and HR collaboration in recruitment efforts.
• Occasionally support new hires during the onboarding process.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in AAA console/PC game development including 5+ years in Unreal Engine.
• A strong portfolio showcasing AAA quality work done in engine (Unreal, Unity, or Proprietary Engine).
• Excellent knowledge of industry-standard software packages for modeling, high-poly sculpting (Maya, Max, ZBrush, Photoshop, or their equivalents).
• Artistically interpret concepts or creatively push beyond initial ideation.
• A solid understanding of traditional art skills along with foundational design competencies (shape, form, texture, value, and color).
• Advanced knowledge of real-time rendering challenges and techniques.
• Extensive experience working with Unreal Engine tools, Visual scripting, and best practices.
• Strong knowledge of current 3D graphics techniques.
• Strong knowledge of particle systems, environmental effects, cloth simulations, lighting, and dynamics.
• Advanced knowledge of current tech art workflows and practices.
• In-depth understanding and experience of game dev standard pipelines, tools, and content creation.
• Strong analytical thinking and high proficiency in technical problem-solving skills.
• Adaptive.
• Ability to adapt and develop specific art style, techniques, and workflows with minimum guidance.
• Strong mentoring skills.
• Ability to collaborate with department leads and different departments to solve artistic and technical challenges.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Self-motivation.

Nice to have:

• Degree in any art field.
• Extensive experience working with the Unreal Engine, especially with Blueprints, Material Editor, and Matinee.
• Max Scripting and HLSL or shader programming experience.
• Scripting and plug-in writing skills with Maya and Python or C++.
• Houdini experience.

Additional Information

What we offer:

• Benefit package 100% paid by PCF. The insurance company reimburses 100% of claims (up to $1000 per service a year, as well as individual family coverage).
• Full dental coverage, including major dental.
• 4% RRSP matching before tax deductions, 100% vested on day 1.
• Paid week off during Winter Holidays.
• 20 paid vacation days and 5 paid sick days.
• Free virtual health and mental well-being sessions included in the plan for members and their dependents.
• A competitive salary and performance-based annual bonuses.
• Personal development opportunities and ability to work in a global environment.
• Work in a creative team with people full of passion for what they do.

We are committed to an inclusive and diverse work culture. PCF is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, or any legally protected status.

Company Description

People Can Fly is one of the leading independent AAA games development studios with an international team of hundreds of talented individuals working from offices located in Poland, UK, Ireland, US, and Canada and from all over the world thanks to our remote work programs.

Founded in 2002, we made our mark on the shooter genre with titles such as Painkiller, Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgment, and Outriders. We are one of the most experienced Unreal Engine studios in the industry and we are expanding it with in-house solutions called PCF Framework.

Our creative teams are currently working on several exciting titles: Gemini is our new project being developed with Square Enix; Gears of War: E-Day is a Triple-A game developed in collaboration with Microsoft Corporation. We are also busy working on a VR and undisclosed projects, more information on those to come later.

With over 20 years of experience, PCF sets out to explore new horizons. We aim to combine our expertise with the creativity of the best and most forward-thinking talents in the industry to work together on the new generation of action games for the global gaming community.

If you decide to accompany us on this journey, you’ll have a chance to perfect your craft and expand your knowledge, working alongside leaders in the industry to bring a brand-new unique experience to the players worldwide.