Lead Character Artist

Lighthouse Games; Royal Leamington Spa; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 Days Holiday

Birthday day off

Discretionary Bonus Scheme

Private Pension Scheme

Private Healthcare

Health and Well-Being Benefits

Dental Care

Optical treatments

Mental Health Support

Job summary

Lighthouse Games is seeking a Lead Character Artist in the United Kingdom to drive character quality, believability, and consistency across our game. You will lead the Character Art team, mentor artists, and set clear creative direction while collaborating with Art leadership and other disciplines to deliver high-fidelity characters that perform well in-engine.

You will balance hands-on character work with leadership, help shape pipelines and workflows, and contribute to planning and resourcing

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of the complete character art pipeline, from sculpting and modelling through texturing, materials, optimisation, and final in-engine implementation.
• Proven experience as a Character Artist within AAA or high-quality game development, including leadership.
• Shipped at least one title with significant responsibility for Character Art.
• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating recent, high-quality real-time character work with strong anatomy, proportion, form, silhouette, and composition.
• Strong proficiency with industry-standard character creation tools such as Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, ZBrush, Substance 3D Painter, and Photoshop.
• Proven leadership, mentoring, communication, and collaboration skills, balancing hands-on production with artistic direction and planning.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the Character Art team, setting a clear quality bar and providing regular feedback and direction.
• Collaborate with Head of Art, Technical Art, Animation, Concept, and Engineering to achieve high visual quality while staying performant.
• Help develop efficient character pipelines, tools, and workflows to improve quality and productivity.
• Balance hands-on character creation with leadership, solving production challenges and guiding others.

Skills

Character design

Leadership

Mentoring

Collaboration

Quality review

Tools

Maya

3ds Max

Blender

ZBrush

Substance Painter

Photoshop

Job description

As a Lead Character Artist, working closely with the Head of Art, you will be responsible for driving the quality, consistency, and believability of our characters. We are looking for someone with an exceptional eye for detail, a strong understanding of character development, and a passion for creating memorable characters that feel authentic within the world of our game.

You will lead and support the Character Art team, setting a clear quality bar while providing regular feedback, mentoring, and artistic direction. You will help create an environment where artists can produce their best work, develop their skills, and collaborate effectively across the wider team.

Collaboration will be central to the role. You will work closely with the Head of Art, Technical Art, Animation, Concept, Engineering, and other disciplines to ensure our characters achieve the highest possible visual quality while remaining performant and technically robust. You will contribute to the development of efficient character pipelines, tools, and workflows, identifying opportunities to improve both quality and productivity.

This is a role that balances hands‑on character creation with leadership and direction. You should be comfortable moving between creating and reviewing content yourself, solving production challenges with the team, and providing direction to internal and external artists. You will understand when a challenge requires you to get directly involved and when your greatest impact will come from enabling and directing others.

You will also contribute to character production planning, estimation, prioritisation, and resource requirements, working with Production and Art leadership to ensure the team can deliver consistently against project goals.

• Expert knowledge of the complete character art pipeline, from sculpting and modelling through texturing, materials, optimisation, and final in-engine implementation
• Proven experience as a Character Artist within AAA or high‑quality game development, including experience in a Lead or equivalent leadership role
• Shipped at least one title with significant responsibility for Character Art
• An exceptional portfolio demonstrating recent, high‑quality real‑time character work, supported by a strong understanding of anatomy, proportion, form, silhouette, and composition
• Strong proficiency with industry‑standard character creation tools such as Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, ZBrush, Substance 3D Painter, and Photoshop
• Proven leadership, mentoring, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to balance hands‑on production with artistic direction, planning, and cross‑discipline problem solving

Desirable

• Strong experience working with Unreal Engine 5 and MetaHuman technologies
• Experience developing or supporting modular, customisable, or digital human character pipelines
• Understanding of advanced character rendering, including skin, hair, eyes, materials, shaders, and character deformation requirements

• 25 Days Holiday, plus 1 day for your birthday
• Studio Shutdown between Christmas and New Year
• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Private Pension Scheme
• Private Healthcare
• Health and Well-Being Benefits
• Dental Care
• Optical treatments
• Mental Health Support