JUNIOR CHARACTER ARTIST

BULKHEAD Limited; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

BULKHEAD is seeking a Junior Character Artist in the United Kingdom to help craft memorable characters across our immersive worlds. You’ll collaborate with the Lead Character Artist and a talented team to develop production-ready assets from concept to final polish.

You’ll build your skills in character design, anatomy and modelling, contribute to asset development, and learn to optimise characters for game pipelines.

Qualifications

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Skills

Communication skills

1+ year experience

Tools

Maya

Photoshop

Substance Painter

ZBrush

Blender

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