Senior Technical Artist (7-month contract)

OpenKrill; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Blackbird Interactive is seeking a Senior Technical Artist to join a small, high-performing team. You will bridge Art and Engineering, build and maintain tools, and push visual quality while respecting technical constraints.

You will collaborate with artists and programmers across animation, modeling, texturing, shaders, and VFX, while optimizing workflows and pipelines for real-time content.

Qualifications

• Experience with Unreal Engine 5 and real-time content pipelines.
• Ability to design, build, and maintain artist-focused tools and workflows.
• Proficiency in scripting or programming (C++, Python) for tool development.

Responsibilities

• Bridge between Art, Engineering and engine to solve cross-disciplinary problems.
• Support art-to-engine integration, asset setup, debugging and optimization.
• Develop tools and workflows to improve artist productivity and content quality.
• Collaborate with animation, modeling, texturing, shaders, VFX and other real-time disciplines.
• Identify visual and performance issues and provide high-quality solutions.

Skills

Unreal Engine 5

Procedural workflows

DCC tools (Maya)

Scripting (C++, Python)

Asset management & VCS

Collaboration & problem solving

Tools

Houdini

Maya

Perforce (P4V)

Job description

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres.

Our studio operates as a remote-first workplace, offering flexible work arrangements.

PLEASE NOTE: At this time, we are only able to hire candidates who are legally eligible to work in Canada and reside within Canada.

Blackbird Interactive is looking for a passionate and experienced Senior Technical Artist to join our team and play a key role at the intersection of art and engineering. Do you want to build stylish and compelling interactive experiences? Do you enjoy collaborating with designers, artists, and programmers to create ambitious in-game content that is both visually compelling and performant?

You will be part of a small, high-performing team that can rapidly explore ideas and deliver elegant solutions to complex technical and creative challenges. As a Senior Technical Artist, you will work closely with art and engineering to support content creation, improve workflows and pipelines, and help push the visual quality of our games while working within technical constraints.

Responsibilities

• -Act as a bridge between Art, Engineering, and the game engine, helping teams communicate effectively and solve cross-disciplinary problems
• -Support artists with art-to-engine integration, including asset setup, debugging, and optimization
• -Design, build, and maintain tools, scripts, and workflows that improve artist productivity and content quality
• -Collaborate with artists across animation, modeling, texturing, shaders, VFX, and other real-time content disciplines
• -Identify visual and performance issues and develop high-quality solutions within technical constraints
• -Contribute to the development and maintenance of procedural tools, art pipelines, and production processes
• -Create clear, concise documentation for tools, workflows, and pipelines
• -Take ownership of technical challenges, work with minimal supervision, and proactively identify opportunities for improvement

Requirements

• -Strong understanding of real-time content development and game art pipelines
• -Technical proficiency in one or more art disciplines (e.g., animation, modeling, texturing, or VFX), with a solid understanding of how they interact within a game engine
• -Professional experience working in Unreal Engine 5
• -Experience with procedural workflows and content creation using tools such as Unreal Engine PCG and Houdini
• -Experience supporting or developing production tools and workflows
• -Experience working with DCC tools such as Maya
• -Programming or scripting experience using C++, C#, Python, or a similar language
• -Understanding of asset management and version control practices
• -Strong problem-solving skills, curiosity, and a collaborative mindset

Pluses

• -Understanding of shader development and material systems
• -Experience with particle systems and real-time visual effects
• -Familiarity with animation rigs and game animation systems
• -Knowledge of performance profiling and optimization for real-time content
• -Experience with Perforce (P4V)
• -Strong interest in video game culture, art, and design