Technical Art Director

Job Description

Technical Art Director (f/m/d)

Ubisoft's 20,000 team members, working across more than 30 countries around the world, are bound by a common mission to enrich players' lives with original and memorable gaming experiences. Their commitment and talent have brought to life many acclaimed franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Just Dance, Rainbow Six, and many more to come. Ubisoft is an equal opportunity employer that believes diverse backgrounds and perspectives are key to creating worlds where both players and teams can thrive and express themselves. If you are excited about solving game-changing challenges, cutting edge technologies and pushing the boundaries of entertainment, we invite you to join our journey and help us create the unknown.

Ubisoft Berlin is home to nearly 150 people, making up several teams dedicated to deliver AAA excellence and innovation across a wide portfolio of games and technologies.

Job Description

As a Technical Art Director at Ubisoft Berlin you have the highest-level understanding of what our tech can do, can't do, yet could do, plus visibility on the project as a whole. You're responsible for providing expert insight, tools, and support to steer a game – and its creators – towards success.

Working with other directors early on, you discuss intentions before making any commitments. You take into account not only measurable factors such as rendering, performance, and memory, but also intangible ones like timing and momentum. Seeing the facts realistically, you establish an actionable plan to bridge the gap between coming up with ideas and putting them into practice.

Though every day of development brings its own mix of both expected and unforeseen challenges, you never lose sight of the big picture. As a strategic thinker and tactical planner, you balance short-term priorities with long-term goals, while consistently considering the future impacts of your choices.

What you will do:
• Collaborate with other core team members to develop the overall vision & determine technical feasibility.
• Identify and analyze risks (engine, data, features, etc.).
• Assess existing tools + occasionally design custom ones to support art pipelines and workflows & sustain the vision.
• Meet with technical artists and assistant technical art directors to share information and updates, enforce standards, set benchmarks, give feedback, etc.
• Resolve specific, complex, escalated issues & approve technical specifications.
• Prepare post-mortems + recommend ways to evolve how we create and integrate graphic data.
• Anticipate technological advancements and stay up to date on market trends to define our best practices + share them with our studios and the industry.
• Participate in recruitment to build the technical art team & foster their growth.

Qualifications

What you bring:
• Art, technical art, or programming experience, or other related experience + leadership experience
• In-depth knowledge of game engines (e.g. Unity or Unreal) & their limitations, 2D art tools (e.g. Photoshop), 3D software (3DS Max, Maya, and Substance Painter), and an understanding of scripting languages (e.g. C#, Python, JavaScript, MaxScript)
• Familiarity with bug tracking software (e.g. Jira) and version management systems (e.g. Perforce)
• A highly innovative, collaborative, empathetic, and solution-oriented spirit
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, mentorship, and presentation skills
• Critical thinking, time management, and organizational capabilities
• Attention to detail, curiosity, resourcefulness, and plenty of flexibility

What to send our way:
• Your CV highlighting your education, experience, skills, and games shipped.
• Samples of your work or any supporting documentation you find relevant.
• A cover letter including your earliest starting date, expected salary and why you would like to join us.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g4qp9y-18-221-53-209-42 in your application.