Associate Art Director, 3D Character Art - League, Pie Content

Job Description

As a Senior Manager of Character Art, you will manage a team of Character Artists and oversee the development and growth of the team. You are also responsible for the hiring, onboarding, and off-boarding of direct reports and ensuring that the team is meeting department quality and product needs. You will lean on your years of experience to help build some of the most iconic characters in the world of gaming. Your sculpting skills, artistic eye and understanding of anatomy, form, and color will lead the way in character creation. Working within both technical and design constraints, you will use your knowledge of proportions, anatomy and readability to ensure models are optimized in game. Your craft expertise and high-level execution will enrich the player's immersive experience.

As a Senior Manager of Character Art on League's PIE Content Team, you will manage a team of Character Artists that create new thematic skins and update pre-existing skins. You will report into the Director of Art Management for the PIE Initiative. You will work in a highly collaborative environment with an iterative process to ensure that each piece of content from Riot reaches the level of quality players deserve. You will work closely with fellow Craft Leads, the PIE art director, Product Leads, Delivery Leads, and others to stay aligned on the product's vision and priorities.

Responsibilities:
• Bring craft expertise for artistic benchmarks and asset production for new skins and thematic updates.
• Run and manage healthy and productive craft review sessions
• Manage and mentor career growth of all direct reports
• Collaborate with concept art, technical art, animation, vfx, narrative, audio, design and engineering teams to create new skins and thematic updates.
• Establish process milestones and workflow guidelines while promoting healthy collaboration between Wild Rift, PIE Content, and the Champion Team.
• Guide the development and documentation for style guides and standard operating procedure guidelines
• Communicate with Production and other Craft Leads
• Manage hiring, onboarding, offboarding of direct reports
• Manage resource allocation and work distribution across the Character Art Team

Required Qualifications:
• 7+ years of experience creating 3D character art for gaming or related industries
• Expertise in hand painted textures and advanced techniques for character creation.
• Experience with Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop and Substance Painter
• Deep understanding of human anatomy, form, and color theory
• Professional or personal work samples of stylized characters included in your portfolio

Desired Qualifications:
• Familiarity with the League of Legends IP and skins universe
• Experience working with vendors, giving direction and delivering clear feedback

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 has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

(Los Angeles only) Base salary range of $168,000 USD - $234,000 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

(Bellevue only) Base salary range of $168,000 USD - $234,000 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

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, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g3n66n-3-144-119-62-42 in your application.