Senior Technical Artist (Rendering) - VALORANT, UI/UX

As a Technical Artist at Riot you will collaborate with the Art, Design, UX/UI, and Engineering teams to create, implement, and maintain UI systems across VALORANT. You will help to design, prototype, and integrate functional interfaces by utilizing Unreal Engine’s UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics UI Designer), Material Editor, and Blueprint Visual Scripting system. Working closely with each department, you will standardize and improve the technical development processes for the production of in-game assets, materials, shaders, and scalable development workflows.

This is both an artistic and technically oriented art position. Working as a Technical Artist requires a combination of art sensibilities, technical knowledge related to the game dev environment, and a high degree of communication and collaboration.

VALORANT is Riot’s take on a character-based tactical shooter (for more info on VALORANT click here!). You will keep the players' experience in mind as you work with diverse teams to help build foundational ideas and concepts for VALORANT’s upcoming content. As a member of the team, you will help your fellow team members to continue to meet and raise the quality bar at the studio.

Responsibilities:

• Prototype and develop shaders and shader libraries.
• Implement and maintain UI for in-game screens, features, and content utilizing UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics) within Unreal Engine.
• Integrate functionality using Unreal Engine’s Blueprint Visual Scripting system.
• Maintain and extend core functionalities of existing shaders, materials and their libraries.
• Support artists with look development as it pertains to shaders and materials.
• Provide technical support to artists who interface with the shaders and materials..
• Ensure our UI is optimal by balancing the art needs with tech constraints and continual iteration and development.
• Test and debug the UI content to make sure there is no conflict with the rest of the game.
• Collaborating with all disciplines necessary to deliver features on time, in line with the art direction, and with the players best interest in mind.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional experience as a technical artist in games or related industries.
• Extensive experience with Unreal Engine, particularly as it pertains to Blueprint scripting, Material Editor and Shader development best practices.
• Experience with Unreal Engines UMG (Unreal Motion Graphics) editor for UI development.
• Strong art skills with experience and an understanding of both 2D and 3D art workflows for games.
• Highly proficient communication skills and capacity to act as an ambassador between art and engineering.
• Superb critical thinking skills, particularly as it pertains to translating artistic requirements to sustainable workflow design.
• Proactive, Responsible, Autonomous

Desired Qualifications:

• Experiencing working in a large team on a AAA game title.
• Experience with Adobe Suite (including Substance), especially from a tool development perspective.
• Experience with Figma.
• Proficiency with Python programming.

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.

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. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.