Principal Visual Artist

Fanatics; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Fanatics is seeking a Principal Visual Artist in New York City to lead the visual direction of projects and mentor a team of artists. You will produce high-quality 2D and 3D art assets while ensuring they meet technical standards.

The ideal candidate will have a strong portfolio that showcases a variety of disciplines, experience in game development, and proficiency in tools like Blender and Photoshop. The position is pivotal in enhancing the fan experience globally.

Qualifications

• Portfolio showcasing concept art, illustration, and 3D modeling.
• Experience leading visual projects and mentoring artists.
• Proficiency in asset production for real-time engines.

Responsibilities

• Lead visual direction for projects and features.
• Mentor and grow the team of artists.
• Produce 2D and 3D art assets for interactive environments.

Skills

3D modeling

Visual direction

Mentoring artists

Texture creation

Motion design

Tools

Blender

Photoshop

Illustrator

Job description

Principal Visual Artist

About Us: Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the visual direction of features and projects, translating creative vision into clear production direction through concepts, style frames, and visual references
• Define and maintain the visual language, tone, and quality standard across all output as the team and portfolio grow
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of artists, providing feedback, direction, and career development support
• Produce concept, illustration, and 2D art assets (textures, surface detail, iconography, UI elements, graphic work) that integrate into 3D and interactive environments
• Model, UV, texture, rig, and animate 3D assets to production standard, working within defined real-time budgets
• Use motion and animation tools to produce motion references and effects concepts that guide technical implementation
• Collaborate closely with the wider creative team to ensure clean, well-structured handoff for runtime, iterating based on how art behaves in-engine
• Shape art production workflows, asset pipelines, and standards as the team scales

What We’re Looking For

• A portfolio that spans disciplines: concept and illustration, texture and surface work, 3D modeling, and asset production, showing both range and depth
• Proven experience leading visual direction on features or projects, with the judgment to make art decisions that serve the overall experience
• Experience leading, mentoring, or growing artists on a team
• Strong visual development skills: style frames, mood boards, colour theory, and composition thinking
• Proficiency in Blender (or equivalent) for 3D modelling, UV layout, texturing, rigging, and animation
• Strong 2D skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, or equivalent, with a focus on texture creation, graphic design, and illustrative work
• Understanding of real-time asset constraints: poly budgets, texture resolution and atlasing, material complexity, and what makes assets performant at runtime
• A collaborative approach: you hand off cleanly, communicate constraints clearly, and take technical feedback without friction

Bonus

• Background in game development (highly preferred) or experience producing assets for a real-time engine
• Experience with motion design, animated asset production, or creating animation references to guide a technical team
• Familiarity with glTF pipelines and well-structured, runtime-ready exports
• Experience with shader authoring or authoring tools

Salary Range

The salary range represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. This salary range is specific to New York City and may not be applicable to other locations. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training. For information about our benefits, please visit https://benefitsatfanatics.com/.

NYC Salary Range: $180,000 - $225,000 USD

USA Remote Salary Range: $155,520 - $194,400 USD

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