Sr Environment Artist (External Development - Contract) Job at PlayStation Globa

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Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking a highly skilled Senior External Development Environment Artist to join our team on a contract basis.

This role is pivotal in ensuring our external partners deliver high-quality assets that align with the artistic vision of our next-generation narrative combat game. If you have a passion for crafting breathtaking environments and thrive in a dynamic, collaborative atmosphere, we want to hear from you!
Responsibilities

• Partner Collaboration: Serve as the primary point of contact for external art vendors, ensuring they produce assets that meet Santa Monica Studio's artistic standards and technical requirements
• Asset Review: Critically evaluate external environment assets, providing clear and actionable feedback to maintain visual consistency and quality across the game
• Artistic Guidance: Work closely with the internal Environment Art team to ensure external assets align with the overall artistic direction, helping to refine and improve vendor deliverables when necessary
• Technical Oversight: Ensure all assets are optimized for performance and memory usage on next-generation platforms, adhering to our technical guidelines and pipelines
• Documentation and Training: Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for external partners, including style guides, asset production workflows, and technical specifications
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Collaborate with internal teams such as Design, Tech Art, and Engineering to resolve any technical or artistic issues that may arise from external content integration
• Quality Assurance: Review assets in-engine to ensure proper integration and alignment with the game's artistic vision and technical constraints

Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years of experience as an Environment Artist in the video game industry, with 2+ years of experience managing external art development for AAA titles
• Portfolio: A portfolio that demonstrates a strong understanding of environment art, including modeling, texturing, lighting, and composition in a photorealistic style
• Software Proficiency: Expert knowledge of industry-standard tools such as Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter/Designer, and Photoshop - familiarity with Unreal Engine or proprietary game engines is a plus
• Technical Skills: Deep understanding of real-time rendering techniques, LOD creation, optimization strategies, and PBR workflows
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience in providing clear, concise feedback to external teams
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot technical issues related to asset creation and integration
• Flexibility: Ability to work effectively in a remote, fast-paced environment, with the capacity to manage multiple external partners and projects simultaneously

Preferred Qualifications

• AAA Experience: Previous experience working on AAA projects similar to PlayStation Studios titles
• Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading or mentoring junior artists or external teams
• Artistic Vision: A keen eye for detail and the ability to maintain a high visual standard across diverse environments and styles

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At SIE, working with our partners, 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 individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click here to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate.

$55.73-$83.61 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, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

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