Outsourcing Art Supervisor

Sony Bend Studio, renowned creator of Days Gone, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Syphon Filter, is seeking outstanding talent to join our passionate and creative family in crafting our next high-profile AAA title.

We are seeking an Outsourcing Art Supervisor who will contribute to the artistic vision and development of an AAA product, using a combination of traditional fine art and technical art skills. This is a leadership role, focused on team cohesion with external vendors, identifying areas of improvement and serving as a liaison with external and internal teams. Must have the ability to collaborate at a high level with a wide range of development team members outside of direct discipline such as Directors, Designers, Technical Artists, and Programmers to achieve the highest artistic quality as they relate to the game design and within technological considerations.

Responsibilities and Functions:

• Manage 0utsourcing assets for the internal art teams
• Work with the production leads and directors to develop and support the outsourcing of art assets and their schedules throughout production.
• Work with the art department leads in creating best practices for artistic quality, production efficiency, and asset optimization into the external team's workflows.
• Working closely with the art director and team leads in delivering feedback and maintaining the established art style, design requirements, and technical specifications.
• Troubleshoot and supply solutions to issues related to art asset creation, performance, and technical requirements.
• Independently undertake research and information gathering to ensure game design needs and artistic direction are met.
• Proactively stay up on new software, processes, and industry trends and share that knowledge with the team.
• Work closely with Tech artist and Engineers to create efficient pipelines and workflows to boost the outsourcing team’s productivity and efficiency.

Requirements & Skills:

• A strong portfolio illustrating ability as a Supervising Outsource Artist.
• Experience with real-time 3D packages such as Unreal, Unity, and proprietary AAA engines.
• Experience with the development of proprietary engines, tools, and workflows is a plus.
• Expert understanding of 3D packages - Maya, 3DMax, Blender, and Z-Brush etc.
• Proficient understanding of texture and material creation - Photoshop and Substance Painter/Designer.
• Solid understanding of PBR materials and shaders.
• Experience with Houdini and other procedural asset creation tools is a plus.
• Experience with photogrammetry and asset scanning workflows is a plus.
• Professional experience working on current or recent AAA games.
• Experience in Agile Development and the use of Jira more managing and tracking tasks.
• Initiative-taking and consistent team productivity with minimal added supervision.
• Ability to collaborate and contribute effectively in a cross-disciplinary team environment.
• 10+ years of experience in game and film production environments.

Qualities:

• Ability to lead, and work with external teams and vendors.
• Effective communication, listening, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• A desire to innovate and to go above and beyond in pursuit of excellence. 
• Keeps aware of industry trends and techniques, evaluates competitive products, and figures out areas we can improve or innovate to best the competition, communicates innovations in a convincing way and collaborates with the leadership team to develop plans for implementation.

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