Absurd Ventures is hiring: Character Outsourcing Artist in Santa Monica

Summary

We are seeking a Character Outsourcing Artist to join our team and help bring compelling characters to life in our game world. This role will serve as a bridge between internal development and external vendors, ensuring that outsourced character assets meet our quality standards, artistic vision, and technical requirements. The ideal candidate will be both a strong Character Artist and an effective collaborator - comfortable reviewing, integrating, and refining outsourced content while also creating high-quality hand-made Character Art when needed, that does not depend on scans.

Core Responsibilities

• Review, provide feedback, and integrate character assets from external outsourcing partners to ensure alignment with the project’s artistic and technical standards.
• Create high-quality character models, textures, and materials that meet the project’s style and fidelity goals.
• Maintain consistency across outsourced assets by ensuring adherence to visual benchmarks, technical specifications, and naming conventions.
• Collaborate with Art Director, Lead Character Artist, and the Technical Animators to ensure character assets are visually striking and function properly in-engine.
• Provide clear and actionable feedback, documentation, and reference materials to outsourcing teams to improve efficiency and quality.
• Troubleshoot and resolve Art related technical issues related to asset integration.

Core Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Character Artist in the video game industry, with at least one shipped AAA or equivalent title.
• Strong portfolio showcasing character modeling, texturing, technical ability, and material creation skills.
• Proficiency in software: Maya, ZBrush, Perforce, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer, and Photoshop.
• Familiarity with Unreal game engine and understanding of asset implementation.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to provide clear feedback to external vendors.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and ability to manage multiple assets and tasks simultaneously.

Plus If...

• Strong drawing and painting skills.
• Experience working directly with outsourcing teams on character pipelines.
• Skilled in Marvelous and Hair/Fur Xgen workflows.
• Knowledge of rigging, skinning, or animation support for characters.
• Has some fun ideas.

Description

• Full time job with benefits
• Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA
• Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways.

The base pay range for this position is $120,000 to $140,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including vacation time, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) matching to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.