Lead Vehicle Artist

Stellar Entertainment Software; Guildford; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid working

Holiday accrual

Private healthcare plan

Pension plan

Life assurance

Wellness support

Team incentives & social events

Job summary

Stellar Entertainment Software in Guildford is seeking an experienced Lead Vehicle Artist to own the vehicle art for our next AAA title. You will lead and mentor internal and external artists, set visual standards, and drive the production pipeline from concept to in-engine final assets.

You’ll collaborate with the Art Director, Technical Art, and Design teams to balance artistic vision with real-time performance, guiding the team to deliver high-fidelity vehicles on schedule across milestones.

Qualifications

• Proven Lead or Principal Vehicle Artist with at least one shipped AAA title featuring vehicles.
• Portfolio focused on realistic, high-fidelity vehicle work for real-time engines.
• Experience delivering vehicle content to milestones and managing outsourced production.
• Deep knowledge of vehicle art pipelines, LODs, materials, shaders, and optimization.

Responsibilities

• Lead creation of high-quality vehicles and hard surface assets for a cutting edge AAA title.
• Collaborate with Art Director, Technical Art, and Design to meet gameplay and aesthetic goals.
• Set and maintain visual quality benchmarks and produce assets that define style and fidelity.
• Mentor internal and external artists, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Define workflows, pipelines, and documentation for vehicle development.
• Ensure assets meet engine performance and optimization requirements.
• Foster a collaborative team culture across disciplines and with external partners.

Skills

Lead / Principal Vehicle Artist

Team leadership

Mentoring

Vehicle art pipelines

Real-time engine workflows

Art direction collaboration

Communication

Tools

Substance Painter

Substance Designer

Unreal Engine (UE5)

Maya / 3DS Max / Blender

Job description

We are a video game development studio with offices in Guildford, UK and Utrecht, Netherlands. Sitting within the heart of thriving communities of game developers and publishers, we focus on quality and excellence our partners and players are always at the front of everything we do.

Games are not just about gameplay. We believe in balancing every element a player experiences what you see, how you play, and how it makes you feel.

It couldn’t be a more exciting time to join us as we embark on a new, unannounced project pushing the boundaries of all aspects of development to create a truly AAA experience.

The Role

We’re looking for an experienced Lead Vehicle Artist to join our Guildford team and own the vehicle art on our next AAA project. You'll be accountable for every vehicle that ships in the game, from the first block out to the final optimised, in-engine asset. You'll set the quality bar, build the pipeline that gets there, and drive a team of internal and external artists to deliver on time, at volume, without compromising fidelity.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll build vehicles yourself, defining the look, detail, and technical standard the rest of the fleet is measured against. You'll also run the vehicle production cycle: planning, scheduling, reviewing, unblocking, and shipping. Working closely with the Studio Art Director, you'll shape how vehicles look, feel, and read in our world, and make sure the team delivers them reliably in every milestone.

As a natural leader and communicator, you’ll bridge creative ambition and technical execution, guiding the team toward excellence and helping grow a culture of collaboration, innovation, and pride in craft.

You will:

• Lead the creation of high-quality vehicles and hard surface assets for a cutting edge AAA title.
• Collaborate with the Art Director, Technical Art, and Design teams to ensure all assets meet gameplay, narrative, and aesthetic goals.
• Set and maintain visual quality benchmarks. You’ll be producing key assets that define style and fidelity.
• Provide feedback and mentorship to internal and external artists, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Work with production to define workflows, pipelines, and documentation for vehicle development.
• Ensure all assets meet engine performance and optimization requirements.
• Foster a collaborative and motivated team culture across multiple disciplines.
• Partner with external development teams to ensure delivery of assets that meet quality and style expectations.

Requirements

What we’re looking to see on your CV:

• Proven experience as a Lead or Principal Vehicle Artist, with at least one shipped AAA title where vehicles were a core part of the experience.
• A portfolio dominated by vehicles. We need to see realistic, high-fidelity vehicle work built for modern real-time engines, including exteriors, interiors, and material detail. Portfolios without a clear vehicle focus will not be progressed.
• A track record of delivering vehicle content to milestone. Through interview you should be able to talk through how you planned, scoped, tracked, and shipped a vehicle roster.
• Hands-on experience managing outsourced vehicle production, from briefing through review to final integration.
• Deep knowledge of vehicle art pipelines: high-to-low workflows, modular and variant systems, damage and destruction, LODs, material and shader setup, and real-time optimisation.
• Expert knowledge of Substance Painter and Designer, Unreal Engine (UE5 strongly preferred, with Chaos Vehicles experience a plus), and at least one 3D package (Maya, 3DS Max, or Blender).
• Strong grasp of art fundamentals: form, function, composition, design, and colour theory.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, able to inspire and guide a team toward consistent excellence.
• Experience collaborating across disciplines (animation, tech art, design) to achieve cohesive results.
• Experience managing and mentoring artists, supporting both creative and professional growth.
• Ability to balance artistic vision with technical and production constraints.

Bonus Points For

• Experience developing visual prototypes or establishing pipelines from scratch.
• Familiarity with outsourcing workflows and providing structured feedback.
• Experience creating documentation and best practices for asset development.
• A passion for innovation, quality, and collaboration in all aspects of game art.

What you can expect from us:

• Flexible hybrid working (we work 3 days per week on-site)
• Holiday Accrual Scheme
• International AAA game projects;
• Access to cutting-edge hardware;
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Private Healthcare Plan incl. Dental and Eye care
• Pension Plan
• Life Assurance
• Employee Assistance Programme - Wellness Support
• Regular Team Incentives and Social Events

We’re on an important journey with our teammates, candidates and industry partners to tackle barriers to equality and promote diversity, inclusion and accessibility across the markets we work in. If you need any support during the interview process or any feedback on our processes, please let us know.