31ST UNION is hiring: Lead Character Artist in San Mateo

Lead Character Artist

We Are Gamemakers

We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games. We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better.

Who You Are

We're looking for a Lead Character Artist who is a communicative, passionate, and technical leader interested in owning a large part of visual development. You are an experienced, hands-on developer with strong expertise in the toolsets needed to develop characters for AAA titles, and someone who can extend that expertise through mentorship to a team of character artists. You should bring a clear artistic vision for the quality and substance of characters on screen and in gameplay, and be an easy collaborator and leadership partner across a variety of disciplines, including VFX, audio, animation, tech art, design, and more.

Responsibilities

1. Drive the visual direction and quality bar for all character assets, collaborating with Art Leads and Directors to define visual identity, style guides, and documentation.
2. Partner cross-functionally with Design, Animation, Tech Art, Rigging, VFX, and Audio to ensure characters meet gameplay, clarity, and technical standards.
3. Review and guide work from our partner studio through feedback, paintovers, and clear documentation aligned with project specifications.
4. Own character asset creation pipelines from sculpting and modeling (ZBrush/Maya) to texturing and integration in Unreal Engine 5, ensuring performance and presentation standards.
5. Lead and mentor the character art team through feedback, reviews, and production planning in coordination with producers to track progress and adapt to shifting priorities.

Required Qualifications

• A strong portfolio showcasing the ability to define and maintain a cohesive visual direction for character art, backed by proficiency in Maya, ZBrush, Substance and Photoshop.
• Strong cross-disciplinary communication skills, with experience collaborating closely with design, animation, tech art, rigging, VFX, and audio teams.
• Hands-on experience owning the character asset pipeline from high-poly sculpting and modeling to integration and optimization in Unreal Engine.
• Flexible in attending meetings to support collaboration across various time zones, including with our partner studio based in Europe.
• Experienced in mentoring artists, leading critiques, and partnering with production to track progress and adapt to shifting priorities, with fluency in task and asset management tools such as Jira, Shotgun/ShotGrid/Flow, or similar platforms.

Relevant Experience

• Leadership or creative vision focused roles in new IP development.
• Experience developing characters for the AAA shooter market & modern PVP shooter gameplay.
• Unreal Engine expertise for pipeline management & utilization of in-engine toolsets to supplement character development.