Remote Lead Technical Artist: Environment Art & Tools

Placements24; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Health/vision/dental insurance

Generous remote-friendly PTO

Professional development opportunities

Access to cutting-edge tools

Collaborative remote culture

Be part of creating stunning game Envs

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Technical Artist (Environment) to drive the technical execution of game environments for a globally distributed team. You will bridge art and engine technology, ensuring stunning visuals and optimized performance across real-time engines.

You will lead a team of technical artists, shape environment pipelines, and own shader development, lighting setups, and tooling. The role emphasizes leadership, collaboration, and delivering high-quality environments remotely.

Qualifications

• Minimum 6+ years as a Technical Artist with focus on environment art pipelines in game development.
• Proven experience leading a technical art team or managing environment art production.
• Strong portfolio showcasing environment asset creation, optimization, shaders, and lighting for real-time engines.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of technical artists focused on environment art pipelines.
• Develop and optimize environment assets (modeling, texturing, scattering) for real-time rendering.
• Create and maintain efficient shaders, materials, and lighting setups within the game engine.
• Develop and implement tools and scripts to streamline environment art creation and integration processes.
• Collaborate with environment artists, level designers, and engineers to achieve project goals.
• Establish and enforce technical art standards and best practices for environment art.
• Profile and optimize environment performance for smooth frame rates and memory usage.
• Troubleshoot technical issues related to environment art assets and pipelines.
• Research and integrate new technologies and techniques to enhance environment visuals and workflows.
• Manage technical art tasks, schedules, and resource allocation for the environment team.

Skills

Leadership

Environment art pipelines

Shader development

Lighting for real-time engines

Python/C#/MEL

Engine optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Graphics, Game Art, or related field

Tools

Maya

3ds Max

Substance Painter

Photoshop

Unreal Engine

Unity

Job description

Placements24 is seeking a Lead Technical Artist (Environment) to drive the technical execution of game environments for a globally distributed team. You will bridge art and engine technology, ensuring stunning visuals and optimized performance across real-time engines.

You will lead a team of technical artists, shape environment pipelines, and own shader development, lighting setups, and tooling. The role emphasizes leadership, collaboration, and delivering high-quality environments remotely.