Junior Character Artist

the hive; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

BULKHEAD is seeking a Junior Character Artist to join its creative team and help shape memorable characters for immersive worlds. You’ll work with senior artists across the design and production pipeline, applying your growing skills in anatomy, modelling and texturing to deliver production-ready assets.

You’ll contribute from concept art through to final polish, learn to optimise assets for performance, and collaborate with other disciplines to push the studio’s visual direction while gaining

Qualifications

• 1+ years industry experience.
• Experience creating character art for FPS.
• Proficiency with Maya, Blender and texturing tools.

Responsibilities

• Model, sculpt and texture characters following pipelines with guidance from senior artists.
• Gather references independently and contribute to planning sessions and visual discussions.
• Apply feedback to raise consistency of modelling and texturing.
• Learn to optimise characters for technical requirements with team guidance.
• Estimate basic tasks, track deadlines and adapt as priorities shift.
• Keep Lead updated on progress, ask focused questions and flag blockers early.

Skills

Communication skills

1+ years industry experience

Tools

Blender

Maya

Photoshop

Substance Painter

ZBrush

Unreal Engine 5

Job description

As a Junior Character Artist at BULKHEAD, you will bring your growing expertise to the team, helping to create memorable characters that enhance the immersive worlds we’re building. You’ll work closely with the Lead Character Artist and a talented team to refine your skills, contribute to high-quality character art assets, and help push the creative boundaries of our projects.

You’ll be involved in the entire character creation process, from concept art to production-ready models, ensuring that your work meets both artistic and technical standards. You’ll have a solid understanding of character design, anatomy, and modelling principles, and you’ll continue to develop these skills further through hands‑on projects and collaboration with senior team members.

In this role, you’ll actively contribute to asset development, ensuring each character is optimised and meets the required specifications for the game. You’ll take initiative, while remaining open to feedback and applying it to improve your work.

What You’ll Do

• Model, sculpt and texture characters that meet the project’s visual targets, following established pipelines with support from senior artists.
• Gather references independently and bring relevant ideas to planning sessions and visual discussions.
• Apply feedback from each task to raise the consistency of your modelling, texturing and overall asset quality.
• Learn to optimise your characters and meet technical requirements, with guidance from the team.
• Estimate basic tasks, track your deadlines and adjust as priorities shift.
• Keep your Lead updated on progress, ask focused questions, and flag blockers early.
• Work with other disciplines when your tasks call for it.
• Try new approaches and tools, learning from experienced teammates as you grow your autonomy.

What We’re Looking For

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey ideas effectively and talk confidently with new people
• 1+ years industry experience
• Good skills in Maya, Photoshop, Substance Painter, and ZBrush or equivalent
• Experience or an understanding of creating character art for first-person shooters
• Experience using Blender
• Unreal Engine 5 experience and knowledge