Lead Real-Time Character Artist for AAA Unreal 5

Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio; Dublin; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plan

Pension plan

Relocation support

Flexible work arrangements

Career development and training

Job summary

Black Shamrock, part of Virtuos, is seeking an experienced Lead Character Artist to spearhead a team delivering high-quality, production-ready characters for AAA games. You will guide production from concept or scan through in-engine delivery, mentoring artists and partnering with studios and clients.

Responsibilities include hands-on character creation, setting quality standards with Art Direction, and coordinating asset handovers across distributed teams.

Qualifications

• Strong professional experience as a Character Artist in game development with shipped PC/console titles.
• Proven experience leading character-art teams.
• High-quality real-time characters and AAA production standards.
• Excellent understanding of anatomy, likeness, clothing, materials, and hard-surface elements.
• Proficiency with industry tools including ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance 3D Painter and major 3D packages.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, and mentor character artists through regular feedback and development planning.
• Plan and delegate work with Production, balancing capacity and delivery schedules.
• Set and maintain character quality standards with Art Direction and lead reviews.
• Remain hands-on in creating real-time characters and related assets.
• Oversee character delivery from concept to in-engine implementation.
• Create production-ready topology, UVs, PBR textures and materials.
• Process scan and photogrammetry data for production.
• Implement and polish characters in Unreal Engine 5 with materials and grooming.

Skills

Character Artist

Team leadership

Unreal Engine 5

MetaHuman

Photogrammetry

ZBrush

Marvelous Designer

Substance 3D Painter

Maya/Blender/3ds Max

Art Direction collaboration

Tools

ZBrush

Marvelous Designer

Substance 3D Painter

Maya

Blender

3ds Max

Job description

Black Shamrock, part of Virtuos, is seeking an experienced Lead Character Artist to spearhead a team delivering high-quality, production-ready characters for AAA games. You will guide production from concept or scan through in-engine delivery, mentoring artists and partnering with studios and clients.

Responsibilities include hands-on character creation, setting quality standards with Art Direction, and coordinating asset handovers across distributed teams.