Senior Character Artist

MachineGames is growing and we are now looking for a talented Senior Character Artist to join our studio and strengthen our team.

In this role you are responsible creating and texturing highly detailed 3D character models for our AAA games. You will be part of our Character Art team and report to our Lead Character Artist.

To thrive in this role we believe you as a person are comfortable working independently and have autonomy over your work while still being a team player enjoying to collaborate closely with other departments and team members.

Our studio is located in central Uppsala, Sweden which is a small and vibrant city 30 minutes north of the capital Stockholm. It has a historical heritage reaching back to pre-medieval times.

MachineGames is a part of Zenimax Media inc. alongside sister studios Alpha Dog games, Arkane studios, Bethesda game studios, Id Software, Roundhouse Studios, Tango Gameworks, and ZeniMax Online Studios.

Our studio has a legacy of being down to earth and free from big egos, our everyday work as well as our long-term goals are driven by our values:

- We value Team performance over individual performance

- We practice an open door policy

- We deliver what we promise

- We give constructive and actionable feedback

- We practice ownership and accountability

- We learn from our mistakes.

This is a permanent position starting as soon as possible. We will support your relocation and/or application for work permit if you have are not an EU citizen and/or not currently residing in Sweden.

We embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do – from recruiting for our studios, publishing and operations to fostering safe and respectful workplaces that encourage collaboration. Our culture is based on principles of respect, inclusion, and fair treatment and we welcome anyone into our family without regard to race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age. Our diversity fuels our innovation and inspires us to create game worlds that bring us closer to the global community of players we serve.

Responsibilities

• Create and texture highly detailed 3D character models for AAA games
• Work directly with the Art Director, Lead Character Artist and Concept team in the creation of character assets.
• Collaborate with other disciplines such as tech art, animation and design to understand gameplay requirements, technological issues and how they relate to the character art and implementation
• Interface with freelance artists and art outsourcers to help convey character art direction as needed
• Serve as mentor for junior level character artists
• Write and maintain tools, workflow, and pipeline documentation.
• Work with Character artists to identify workflows. Where possible investigate and support the development of these tools alongside other member of the engine team.
• Candidates are half-artist and half-programmer, with enough programming and math experience to write clean code, but with an artist’s eye for visual polish.
• Create samples, examples, and prototypes

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience in video games and shipped at least 2 AAA title as a Senior Character Artist
• Advanced knowledge in Maya, ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter and Photoshop
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment and comfortable filling details where concepts may be vague
• Strong understanding of human anatomy, animal anatomy, facial anatomy and how it applies to facial animation, etc.
• Experienced with PBR engines, for example Unreal, idTech, or CryEngine
• Excellent follow-through and takes initiative to solve problems
• Team player with a strong work ethic and a collaborative attitude
• Excellent communication and time management skills
• Passion for video games and game development

Preferred Skills

• Experience in animation and rigging are considered as an advantage
• Facial blendshape creation experience
• Strong technical knowledge to ensure assets are optimal for performance and memory.
• Hair and clothes simulation experience