This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead Level Artist based in Canada.
The Lead Level Artist will play a key role in shaping immersive, high-quality game environments by combining artistic vision, technical expertise, and team leadership.
You will guide a talented environment art team while contributing hands-on to level creation, world building, and production workflows.
The role requires translating creative direction into engaging playable experiences that meet design, storytelling, and performance goals.
You will collaborate closely with artists, designers, producers, and technical teams to solve complex challenges and improve workflows.
Working within a AAA game development environment, you will help define quality standards and mentor artists to reach their full potential.
This position offers the opportunity to influence the visual identity of ambitious projects and contribute to memorable experiences for players worldwide.
Accountabilities:
As a Lead Level Artist, you will oversee environment art production while ensuring artistic excellence, technical consistency, and efficient delivery. You will combine leadership responsibilities with hands-on creative work to support the development of high-quality playable levels.
- Lead and mentor an environment art team, creating an engaging atmosphere that encourages collaboration, creativity, and individual growth.
- Translate artistic direction into clear goals and workflows, ensuring the team consistently delivers assets aligned with the project vision.
- Create and refine world geometry, level compositions, and environmental content using Unreal Engine.
- Maintain technical consistency across environment assets while ensuring compliance with engine requirements, production standards, and optimization targets.
- Define, communicate, and maintain quality standards, completion criteria, and best practices for environment art deliverables.
- Collaborate with production teams to plan workloads, manage priorities, and deliver milestones while maintaining sustainable working practices.
- Identify production risks early, communicate challenges, and propose practical solutions to keep projects on track.
- Provide regular feedback, coaching, and artistic guidance to improve team quality and support professional development.
- Work closely with technical artists and other departments to explore new techniques, improve pipelines, and implement workflow enhancements.
- Contribute to recruitment, onboarding, performance discussions, and team development initiatives.
- Support documentation, knowledge sharing, bug resolution, and research initiatives to continuously improve production processes.
Requirements:
The ideal candidate brings extensive experience in AAA game development, strong environment art expertise, and proven leadership abilities. You should have a strong understanding of both artistic principles and technical production workflows.
- 7+ years of experience in console or PC game development, including at least 5 years working with Unreal Engine.
- Previous experience in a lead, supervisory, or team leadership role within game development.
- A strong portfolio showcasing AAA-quality environment art, modular workflows, world building, and production-ready assets.
- Advanced experience creating environments in Unreal Engine, including level composition, optimization, and technical implementation.
- Professional experience with industry-standard digital content creation tools such as Maya, Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush, Photoshop, and Substance Painter.
- Strong knowledge of modular environment workflows and asset creation pipelines.
- Ability to interpret concepts creatively and expand initial ideas into compelling visual experiences.
- Understanding of narrative environment design and effective storytelling through level composition.
- Ability to balance artistic quality with performance requirements inside a game engine.
- Strong foundation in traditional art principles, including shape, form, texture, value, and color.
- Experience working with physically based rendering (PBR) materials, shaders, and normal maps.
- Excellent mentoring, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to work across multiple disciplines.
- Ability to adapt quickly, develop new artistic approaches, and work independently with minimal guidance.
- Strong problem-solving mindset and ability to manage both creative and technical challenges.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive benefits package fully covered by the employer.
- Health insurance coverage with full reimbursement of eligible claims and family coverage options.
- Full dental coverage, including major dental services.
- Retirement savings plan with employer matching contributions and immediate vesting.
- Paid winter holiday break.
- 20 paid vacation days and 5 paid sick days annually.
- Access to virtual healthcare and mental well-being support for employees and dependents.
- Personal development opportunities and opportunities to work in a global creative environment.
- Opportunity to collaborate with passionate professionals on ambitious AAA game projects.
- Creative and collaborative workplace focus
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