Technical Art Director - Teamfight Tactics

As a Technical Art Director, you will lead and define the technical art needs across all of the different creative and technical teams on Teamfight Tactics. You will partner with the Creative Director to determine best practices and pipelines, workflow, and asset production so artists can work efficiently and without technical hurdles in production. Additionally, you will work with fellow Technical Art Directors across the studio to ensure healthy and consistent best practices and support across the discipline.

As the Technical Art Director on Teamfight Tactics, you will support a team of Art Directors across TFT and work in partnership with Engineering Leaders to ensure joint planning and prioritization in order to support tools, optimization and pipelines across the TFT Product. You will drive future-facing workflows, pipelines, rigging standards, and build a long-term strategy for the technical implementation of the creative vision for Teamfight Tactics. You will lead technical artists in creating rigs, tools, materials and shaders, and in upholding engineering best practices, while building, managing and growing the team. You will identify strategic art resource needs and promote hiring for all tech art roles on the team. As a part of the art leadership team, you’ll develop strategies and eliminate obstacles with other leaders to achieve broader product goals.

Responsibilities:

• Be the primary driver in defining and growing the Tech Art discipline across the game, including direct management, mentorship of TA leads, and seeking opportunities to help the team develop towards their goals
• Partner with Art and Engineering leadership to balance creative ambition, technical sustainability, performance and dev efficiency
• Lead teams in identifying and prototyping new opportunities and incorporate technology to increase art workflow efficiency and unlock new creative opportunities
• Drive the long-term Technical Art strategy and roadmap, in partnership with Engineering, Art, and Product leadership to align technology investments with product goals and creative vision
• Fill in initial Technical Art gaps on new or exploratory products or teams, and set them up for sustainability
• Ensure proper staffing and allocation of Technical Artists across product teams 
• Influence Technical Art standards and Engineering best-practices across Riot through cross-product collaboration, mentorship within the discipline, and the development of reusable solutions

Required Qualifications:

• 13+ years of experience as a technical artist in games or related industries
• 8+ years experience in management in games or related industries
• Experience working in the Unreal Engine and Editor
• Experience working collaboratively with external vendors and partners
• Experience with and commitment to building long-term maintainable, testable, portable, and stable systems
• Experience working on mobile games
• Highly proficient communication skills and capacity to act as an ambassador between art, product, and engineering

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with Maya and scripting in Python 
• Experience in shader development (e.g. HLSL)
• Experience with ZBrush, Substance, and simplygon pipelines
• Familiarity working in the Unity or other game Engines
• Professional experience working in mobile development and cross-platform experience

As a part of the application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

 

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.