Character Technical Artist at Absurd Ventures

<p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="p-pdf_viewer_thumbnail"> <div data-page-number="1"> <p><strong>Summary</strong><br>We are seeking a skilled Character Technical Artist to join our team and support the&nbsp;development of high-quality, performant characters for an all-new IP. This role sits at the&nbsp;intersection of art, animation, and engineering, ensuring that character assets are built,&nbsp;optimized, and implemented to the highest technical standards.</p> <p><br>As a Character Technical Artist at Absurd Ventures, you will collaborate closely with Character&nbsp;Artists, Riggers, Animators, and Engineers to develop and maintain character pipelines, solve&nbsp;complex technical challenges, and help push the visual fidelity and performance of our&nbsp;characters in Unreal Engine.</p> <p><strong>Core Responsibilities&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Partner with Character Artists to ensure character models meet technical, performance, and&nbsp;pipeline requirements.</li> <li>Support and maintain character pipelines spanning modeling, rigging, skinning, deformation,&nbsp;and engine implementation.</li> <li>Diagnose and resolve character-related technical issues, including geometry, skinning,&nbsp;deformation, LODs, and performance constraints.</li> <li>Collaborate closely with rigging and animation to ensure characters are animation-ready and&nbsp;behave correctly in-game.</li> <li>Implement and validate characters in Unreal Engine, ensuring correct setup for materials,&nbsp;LODs, cloth, and physics.</li> <li>Develop tools, scripts, and workflows to improve efficiency and consistency in character&nbsp;production.</li> <li>Create and maintain technical documentation for character pipelines, workflows, and best&nbsp;practices.</li> <li>Proactively identify risks related to character production, performance, or pipeline bottlenecks&nbsp;and communicate them clearly to Production and leadership.</li> <li>Provide technical guidance and mentorship to Character Artists and other content creators.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Core Qualifications</strong></p> <ul> <li>5+ years of experience as a Character Technical Artist, Technical Artist, or similar role in the&nbsp;video game industry. Experience supporting character pipelines on at least one shipped AAA title.</li> <li>Experience with character rigging, facial rigs, or motion systems.</li> <li>Strong understanding of character modeling, topology, UVs, skinning, and deformation&nbsp;principles.</li> <li>Significant experience working in Unreal Engine (preferably UE5), including character setup,&nbsp;LODs, physics, Control Rig and optimization.</li> <li>Proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Maya and familiarity with Motion Builder,&nbsp;ZBrush and Substance Painter.</li> <li>Solid scripting or tool development experience (Python, MEL, Blueprint, or similar).</li> <li>Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex, cross-disciplinary issues.</li> <li>Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><strong>Plus if…</strong></p> <ul> <li>Familiarity with cloth, hair, or physics simulation workflows in Unreal Engine.</li> <li>Experience with performance profiling and optimization on console hardware.</li> <li>Previous experience establishing or evolving character pipelines on a large production.</li> <li>Familiarity with proprietary or custom engine pipelines.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Description</strong></p> <ul> <li>Full-time job with benefits.</li> <li>Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA.</li> <li>Office is located near downtown Santa Monica — near metro and freeways.</li> </ul> <p>The base pay range for this position is $130,000 to $165,000 per year. Actual compensation is&nbsp;based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and&nbsp;experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including paid time off, sick time,&nbsp;company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability&nbsp;insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for&nbsp;bonus and equity.</p> <p><br><strong>About Absurd Ventures</strong><br>Absurd Ventures is a media company creating new IP across all platforms and for all formats.&nbsp;Absurd Ventures is building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a&nbsp;variety of genres, without regard to medium, to be produced for live-action and animation;&nbsp;video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.</p> </div> </div>