Senior Technical Artist d3t - 12 Month Contract

Keywords Studios; Runcorn; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

22 days holiday + 3 festive closure

Company Pension Scheme

Flexible Working Hours

Private Medical Insurance - BUPA

Anti-crunch ethos

Free Parking

Company Socials

Breakout Areas

Job summary

d3t, part of Keywords Studios, is seeking a Senior Technical Artist for a 12-month fixed-term contract in the UK (Daresbury or Newcastle) with hybrid working. The role focuses on establishing art pipelines, creating materials and in-house tools, and ensuring performance targets while maintaining visual fidelity.

You will mentor peers and drive technical art development across environments, characters, VFX, and animation.

Qualifications

• Experience with real-time game art pipelines.
• Knowledge of rendering, shading and lighting techniques.

Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain project art pipelines from inception and throughout the project life-cycle.
• Create materials/shaders and in-house tools.
• Ensure artwork meets memory and frame rate guidelines.
• Collaborate with artists to improve performance while maintaining fidelity.
• Own features when required and manage task prioritisation in Jira.
• Mentor and motivate other Technical Artists.

Skills

Real-time game art

Performance & quality focus

Maya

3DS Max

Python

Communication

Organisation

Leadership in art

Materials & shaders

PBR workflow

Unreal Engine

Unity

Tools

Maya

3DS Max

Python

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

d3t is at the forefront of videogame technology and creativity, delivering experienced co-development services to some of the biggest AAA clients in the world. Our studio, part of the global Keywords Studios Group, works on multiple exciting projects at any one time, offering plenty of variety and involvement.

Our studio projects have included EA SPORTS FC™ 26, Hogwarts Legacy, Exoborne, Mafia: The Old Country, Alan Wake Remastered, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Vampire The Masquerade - Blood Hunt, Mafia II: Definitive Edition, and Assetto Corsa Competizione. We also work in partnership with our global clients including: Playground Games, EA and Archetype Entertainment.

The d3t studios are based near Daresbury (Cheshire), Newcastle (Tyne & Wear) and Madrid (Spain) where we offer an amazingly professional and supportive working environment. We are passionate about what we do and pride ourselves on our anti-crunch mentality, mentoring ethos and have been awarded ‘Best Places to Work’ multiple times by gamesindustry.biz. In addition, we won ‘Best Creative Service Provider’ at Develop 2022 and were nominated in 2023 & 2024.

This opportunity will be a 12 month fixed-term contract (with possible extension) based in either of our UK studio sites (Daresbury or Newcastle), on a hybrid working basis. Working pattern - 3 days per week in the studio: Wednesday, Thursday and another day of your choice.

d3t’s Art team blends technical excellence with a passion for the craft of game development. Our expertise spans the full development cycle—from co-development on features and content to benchmark creation and work on remakes / remasters. We deliver world-class content across Environment, Character, VFX, and Animation. We don’t just create art; we build the tools and pipelines that power it. We are expanding our studio and looking for a Senior Technical Artist to help us redefine what’s possible.

The Role - Senior Technical Artist

What are we looking for?

• Establish and maintain project art pipelines from inception and throughout the project life-cycle.
• Support the art and animation team requirements and assist with resolving technical issues.
• Creating and integrating in-house toolsets and creation of materials/shaders
• Ensure all artwork hits memory and frame rate guidelines/restrictions by means of performance profiling.
• Collaborate with the artists and feedback on how they can improve the performance of the in-game assets while maintaining visual fidelity.
• Able, when required, to take ownership of specific features of the game.
• Ensure all artwork adheres to guidelines regarding naming conventions, texture layering structures etc
• Keep up to date with industry advancements and technologies and share knowledge with the art team.
• Add to our library of tutorials, documents and technical guides to improve efficiency in the art pipeline and be proactive in finding solutions to technical issues.
• With a professional and organised approach, you adhere to schedules and promptly feedback concerns regarding any aspects of the project.
• Ensuring the right tasks are tackled in the right order, updating Jira, communicating progress and helping to manage team deliverables.
• Advise the Technical Art Leadership of resourcing concerns and production risks.
• Encourage and mentor other members of the Technical Art Team.
• Self driven, autonomous and confident, demonstrate responsibility for work quality and processes for both yourself and other members of the tech art team, actively contributing fresh ideas and encouraging the team.
• Confident with motivating Tech Artists, inspire colleagues to flourish and help promote a culture of collaborative innovation.

Essential Skills

• Enjoy the technical challenge and constraints of real-time game art and have some understanding of modern rendering, shading and lighting techniques.
• Must be performance and quality focused.
• Must have an excellent working knowledge and proficiency in Maya and/or 3DS Max and an excellent in-depth knowledge in Python.
• Excellent communication and organisation skills and confident working within a multidisciplinary art team.
• Evidence of being an enthusiastic leader or role model in intermediate art role
• Able to create materials/shaders and a good understanding of a PBR workflow.
• Excellent understanding of the technical limitations of current console hardware.
• Practical and methodical approach to technical and creative problem-solving.
  Demonstrate dependability and commitment to projects and tasks, and a hunger to learn and improve as a Technical Artist.
• Flexible and calm approach with the ability to adapt to change.
• Ability to deliver quality work within fixed time constraints.
• Strong knowledge of modern game engines such as Unreal Engine Or Unity.
• Excellent knowledge of current game development practices and terminology and a passion for staying up to date with latest technology and embracing new game art techniques.

Desirable Skills

• Knowledge of other scripting languages is advantageous.
• Knowledge of the Maya API and programming in C++ or C# is advantageous
• Some understanding of various other tools and software used in development, Photoshop, Substance, Houdini etc is also advantageous.
• Experience of working within game development for at least 4 years At least three published titles.
• At least two full project cycles in an Intermediate Art position.

We work flexibly, but value in-person collaboration: this position is offered on a hybrid basis only at either of our UK sites (3 days per week working in the studio: Wednesday, Thursday and another day of your choice). We value work/life balance and have a discretionary flexible hours system and operate a no-crunch policy as a studio.

d3t Studio Benefits & Perks

• 22 days holiday +3 Festive Studio Closure + Bank Holidays
• Company Pension Scheme
• Flexible Working Hours
• Private Medical Insurance Scheme - BUPA
• Anti-crunch ethos - a professional, fun and supportive working environment!
• Free Parking
• Company Socials, Monthly Lunches + Annual d3t Events
• Breakout Areas - filled with perks such as games, BBQ area, complimentary snacks to suit all dietary preferences etc.

At d3t we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace and culture.