Principal Technical Artist

Job Description

Principal Technical Artist (Contract)

Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking an experienced Principal Technical Artist for the development of a new unannounced title!

You are into games – you love playing them and you love making them. You want to use your skills to create bigger and more impressive worlds and are full of ideas how to do so. And you're half coder and half artist – you get both, you help each understand the other, and you can translate from art to tech and back again, so everyone gets the most out of the tools and knows what to ask for to get awesome art up onto the screen.

Responsibilities
• Research, define, improve, and maintain artist pipelines, tools, and workflows
• Interface with stakeholders. Liaise between team members; drive collaborative projects
• Troubleshoot issues; resolve them: invent or build robust, quality technical implementations
• Participate in art asset reviews to help identify technical concerns or risks
• Partner with leads and directors to meet visual and technical standards
• Mentor and guide Art, VFX and/or Lighting team members in areas of expertise; instill best practices

Requirements
• Minimum ten years of professional experience in computer-generated art
• Understanding of artist workflows, VFX authoring (particles, flip books, flow maps), Lighting theory (PBR/PBL, LUTs), HDR pipeline, color theory, profiling, and/or optimizing for real-time rendering
• Experience with HLSL, GLSL or similar shader languages
• Expertise of 3D math fundamentals
• Proficient scripting/programming experience with Python, PyQT/PySide
• Strong understanding of algorithm design and their inherent complexity
• Ability to write clean, maintainable and extensible code with attention to reusability
• Enthusiasm and initiative
• Excellent spoken and written communication
• Able and motivated to work with other team members

Preferred Experience
• Industry experience working on or shipping AAA titles
• Programming experience with C++
• Knowledge or experience in procedural asset creation like Houdini, Substance
• Expert ability in 3D modelling DCCs such as Maya or equivalent

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At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role's base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for SIE's top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$170,100
- $255,100 USD

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gx02kj-18-116-13-231-42 in your application.