Senior Biome Artist

BULKHEAD Limited; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

BULKHEAD in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Biome Artist to own and build large-scale biomes and environments, collaborating with Art, Concept and Level Design teams to translate artistic vision into performant in-engine assets.

You will drive landscape master materials, procedural foliage placement, and shader libraries in UE5, with a focus on SpeedTree and ZBrush workflows, mentoring junior artists along the way.

Qualifications

• Portfolio showing large-scale natural environments and organic asset work.
• Expert understanding of modern game art pipelines and dependencies.
• Experience using Unreal Engine 5 for large environments, with Nanite.
• Proficiency with landscape materials, foliage scattering and procedural content creation.
• Strong world-building sense with knowledge of level design requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own and build large-scale biomes and environments in collaboration with Art, Concept and Level Design teams.
• Define biome rules and ecosystems for vegetation, terrain and props placement.
• Develop and maintain landscape master materials and foliage workflows in UE5 (SpeedTree, ZBrush).
• Set vegetation standards and ensure consistency and quality across assets.
• Lead visual research, prototyping, and previsualisation to guide creative direction.
• Mentor junior and mid-level artists, providing feedback and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Large-scale environments

UE5 / Nanite

SpeedTree

ZBrush

Landscape materials

Mentoring

Tools

Unreal Engine 5

SpeedTree

ZBrush

Procedural content tools

Job description

As a Senior Biome Artist at BULKHEAD, you will play a key role in crafting visually compelling, immersive environments that define the quality of our worlds' biomes. You'll take full ownership of major environment spaces, from organic asset creation to the assembly of large-scale worlds using our in-house landscape tooling, ensuring they meet the artistic vision and technical performance benchmarks of the project.

You will bring strong visual instincts and technical precision, driving scene development from reference gathering through to engine integration. Your work will reflect a deep understanding of form, scale, composition and fidelity, with a proactive approach to problem-solving and innovation.

As a senior team member, you'll collaborate closely across disciplines, contributing confidently to planning discussions and production alignment. You'll give and receive constructive feedback, making informed decisions that balance creative and practical needs, and you'll mentor junior and mid-level artists to uphold and elevate team standards.

This role offers the opportunity to influence visual direction, refine pipelines and contribute meaningfully to the success of both the project and your teammates, while continuing to grow as a creative and technical leader.

What you’ll do

• Own and build large-scale biomes and environments, working with the Art, Concept and Level Design teams
• Define biome rules and ecosystems that govern how vegetation, terrain and props are placed across the world
• Build and maintain landscape master materials, procedural foliage placement and shader libraries in UE5
• Set and maintain studio-wide vegetation standards in SpeedTree, keeping all organic assets consistent and high quality
• Own foliage performance, balancing visual fidelity against performance budgets with the technical art and engineering teams
• Lead visual research, prototyping and previsualisation to drive creative direction for major environment themes
• Act as the main point of contact for landscape and foliage art, tracking milestones and communicating clearly with Production and stakeholders
• Lead small teams and mentor artists at all levels through feedback, coaching and knowledge-sharing

What we're looking for

• A portfolio demonstrating large-scale natural environments and organic asset work
• Expert understanding of up-to-date game art processes, limitations and dependencies
• Experience working in UE5 on large-scale environments using Nanite Expert in organic 3D asset creation using industry software packages (including SpeedTree and ZBrush or equivalent)
• Experience with landscape materials, foliage scattering and procedural content creation
• Expertise in world building, with a strong understanding of level design requirements and limitations

Bonus Points for

• Experience with PCG framework
• Experience with photogrammetry