Outsource Asset Artist

Job Description

Job Title:Outsource Asset Artist (Temporary) - Sledgehammer Games

Requisition ID:R004007

Your Platform

Your Mission

As the Outsource Asset Artist, you will be responsible for the complete lifecycle of interaction between Sledgehammer Games and our many art outsourcing partners. This includes working with internal Activision teams to successfully coordinate batches of content to be outsourced (typically composed of multiple briefs), interaction with management for approval of costs/budget as necessary, and interactions with multiple teams of third-party groups to successfully deliver all requested content on time, to required quality levels, and within budget. You will be the ''gatekeeper'' for our external vendor work and will apply your artistic eye to ensure that our vendors' deliveries are of the highest quality possible. You will collaborate with Art disciplines to develop guidelines and packets for our vendors to follow, and you will work closely with Production to ensure that everything is delivered in an appropriate timeline. You will be the driving force behind improvements to these workflows and the first line of contact with the daily vendor relationship.

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:
• Work hand-in-hand with colleagues to empower the dedicated game production teams to achieve their goals for content delivery
• Conduct regular reviews and send feedback on the art and technical quality of vendor submissions.
• Communicate negative (''non-delivery'') information/risks to the production teams in a proactive and constructive manner
• Devise and implement any potential solutions to mitigate the risks that might arise.
• Collaborate closely with the Art disciplines, design, tech art and our vendors.
• Partner with the discipline art lead ensuring briefs for our vendors are created and delivered.
• Train vendors on our best practices and unblock their workflow issues.
• Update our tracking software with estimates of assets and delivery dates based on information from our vendors. Keep our dashboards and pages in good standing to our projects schedule.
• Partner with the Art Producer to ensure the vendors are hitting their performance targets by conducting necessary reviews on deliveries. Report any issues that need immediate attention.
• Transfer final outsourced assets into our engine when applicable.
• Maintain a clean local directory and confluence pages with finished and in progress work.
• Identify risks associated with meeting project milestones.
• Organize and prepare asset packets for the external team.

Player Profile

Minimum Requirements:
• Experience of writing asset briefs and reviewing outsourced assets.
• Experience working with international partners in an outsourcing capacity.
• Strong communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Experience driving relationships with internal and external stakeholders while successfully delivering content within budget and time.
• A keen interest in playing recent AAA games outside of work, with the ability to discuss favorite titles, and express informed opinions about game quality.
• Thorough knowledge of the procurement process, with an understanding of various contract types and when each should be leveraged based on the risk profile and delivery deadlines of the project
• Ability to work with the project teams on performing 'Make or buy' analysis
• 3+ years of experience in game art asset creation in different software packages including Maya, Zbrush, Substance and Photoshop
• Have shipped AAA PC, console or mobile titles as an Outsource Manager
• Strong character and environment modeling experience
• Experience with creating project schedules and velocity/burndown reports
• Experience managing a small internal team of direct reports

Extra Points:
• Experience with negotiating and documenting formal changes to contracts during execution
• Experience with project budget tracking

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gxk2jz-18-219-95-244-42 in your application.