At NaturalMotion, we make games that wow people. We innovate to create experiences that previously were impossible and that would not exist without us. We take pride in making titles that reach a large audience and in creating communities that last. For the past seven years, NaturalMotion Studios has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the UK games industry by gamesindustry.biz.

We embrace a hybrid work environment. Within this role, you would work 2 days per week (Tuesday and Wednesday) in either our London or Brighton office and the remaining days at home. 

Job Purpose

We are looking for Principal/Senior Character Artist to join us in growing Star Wars™: Hunters, a competitive arena combat game for the Nintendo Switch system and mobile devices. Star Wars: Hunters brings players together to engage in thrilling, team-based, multiplayer battles featuring a diverse array of distinctive new Star Wars characters.

You will work alongside other Art team members and Leads to create new, original Star Wars characters and seasonally released cosmetics. Reporting to the Lead Character Artist and Art Directors you will have a passion for creating high quality, iconic characters. You will be responsible for asset creation and maintaining pipelines for Character modeling, ensuring all work maintains the existing art style and raises the quality bar.

Key Roles & Responsibilities

• Work with concept, animation and technical art teams to create production quality assets
• Responsible for the day to day management of your assigned character art related tasks and additional support for the character team
• Collaborate with engineers, designers and product to ensure consistent product vision 
• Participating in character production, tools and pipeline development to ensure the team working efficiently and at as  high a level of quality as possible
• Run art related meetings and give critical feedback in a professional manner and contribute feedback to your peers.
• Responsible for pushing the quality of the character art both aesthetically and technically
• Improve the execution and set benchmarks for new characters and cosmetics
• Work with the Lead Character Artist to nurture a creative, talented and enthusiastic art team
• Mentor other character artists
• Providing reviews and feedback to our ExDev partners
• Be heavily involved in character art related technical issues across disciplines

Required Skills & Experience

• Experience in AAA quality Character Art in a Senior/Principal level role 
• You’re passionate about – and have expert knowledge of character design, art and culture 
• An excellent portfolio which validates that you have a good knowledge of character creation in different styles
• Expert attention to detail in all aspects of UV Mapping, textures, shaders and LOD’s
• Outstanding understanding of:
  • shape, structure and silhouette regarding modeling
  • form and anatomy
• Optimize models and textures to meet the specification
• Excellent skills in ZBrush, Max or Maya, substance and Photoshop
• Experience working with external partners
• Excellent technical knowledge of current AAA character pipelines 
• Expertise working in Unreal Engine
• Strong visual sense for character design

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience working with an established IP
• Detailed knowledge of the Star Wars brand
• Experience working on a Live Service game

What We Offer You

• Competitive salary and discretionary annual bonus scheme 
• Create next-gen games that will be played and loved by millions of players around the world
• Work in a family-oriented, collaborative team that invests in your development and growth on-the-job
• A diverse team of friendly, fun and supportive co-workers
• Flexible working hours & crunch-free working culture
• Summer/Winter parties and weekly Happy Hour in the studio 
• 26 days holiday + bank holidays, 2 paid personal days 
• 6 months of fully paid maternity/adoption leave or 16 weeks of fully paid paternity leave (eligibility criteria apply)
• Pension plan with a double matching employer contribution (capped at 8%)
• Private medical insurance, dental insurance and healthcare cash plan
• Life insurance, accident insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Company Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) (eligibility criteria apply)
• Fitness Reimbursement plan worth £600 per annum
• Charitable Giving Platform to which the Company contributes a 2:1
• Annual season ticket advance and cycle to work scheme

We are an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to building a diverse and talented workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, disability, or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome job-seekers, players, employees, and partners from all backgrounds to join us!

We will consider all qualified job-seekers with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities in order to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us at accommodationRequest@zynga.com to request an accommodation associated with your application for an open position.

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