Senior Technical Artist

JR United Kingdom; Southampton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative video game development studio in Southampton is seeking a Tech Artist to enhance the visual quality of their horror game. This role involves bridging art and programming teams, developing tools, and optimizing assets for performance across platforms like PC and consoles. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in Unity, excellent programming skills, and a passion for horror games. Join a passionate team dedicated to creating immersive experiences and pushing the boundaries of real-time graphics. If you thrive in a collaborative environment and love tackling technical challenges, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Professional experience on a shipped Unity title.
• Strong programming skills in C# and Unity asset optimization.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with teams to create and maintain art pipelines.
• Optimize art assets for multiple platforms, ensuring performance.

Skills

Unity

C#

Shader Creation

Performance Profiling

3D Asset Creation

Communication Skills

Education

Experience as a Senior Tech Artist

Tools

Blender

Maya

Substance

Version Control (Git, Perforce, Plastic)

Job description

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Kinetic Games is a new video game development studio based in Southampton. We are a passionate team of developers using Unity to continuously improve and expand the horror experience of Phasmophobia, currently available on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

About the Role:

We are looking for a dedicated and skilled Tech Artist to join our team. As a Tech Artist, you will act as a bridge between our art and programming teams, helping to ensure that our visuals are not only stunning but also performant and technically optimized. You will play a key role in developing new tools, solving pipeline challenges, and ensuring that our game runs smoothly across multiple platforms. Your expertise will help push the visual quality of Phasmophobia while maintaining efficient workflows.

Responsibilities:

1. Collaborate closely with artists, designers, and programmers to create and maintain efficient, scalable art pipelines.
2. Optimize art assets and scenes to ensure the best performance on PC, VR, PSVR2, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
3. Develop tools to improve workflows and automate repetitive tasks within Unity.
4. Investigate, identify, and solve visual and technical issues during development.
5. Support the art team with shader creation, material setup, lighting, and VFX integration.
6. Ensure that assets meet both artistic and technical standards and work seamlessly within Unity.
7. Stay up to date with the latest tools, techniques, and best practices in real-time graphics and optimization.
8. Participate in regular team meetings, providing technical insights and support to improve the game's visual quality and performance.

Requirements:

• Professional experience as a Senior Tech Artist or similar role, on a shipped Unity title.
• Strong experience with Unity, including working with prefabs, lighting, shaders, materials, and asset optimization.
• Solid understanding of performance profiling and optimization for multi-platform games.
• Excellent programming skills in C#.
• Familiarity with 3D asset creation workflows (knowledge of tools like Blender, Maya, Substance, or similar).
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical processes to non-technical team members.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
• Passion for horror games.
• Knowledge and experience playing Phasmophobia.
• Eligibility to work in the UK.

Nice To Have

• Experience developing for VR and console platforms (especially PSVR2).
• Knowledge of shader languages such as HLSL or Shader Graph.
• Experience with VFX tools and techniques.
• Interest or background in real-time lighting and rendering pipelines.
• Experience with version control systems such as Git, Perforce, and Plastic.