Senior Principal Technical Artist

As a Senior Principal Technical Artist, you will lead efforts to understand and improve Riot’s core creative tool sets. You will partner with Senior Tech Art, Art, Engineering, and Production Leadership across the company to guide creation and implementation of cutting-edge long-lasting tools, workflows, and pipelines, so that creatives can iterate efficiently and painlessly. This role blends technical expertise, creative vision, and leadership to help Riot align around and execute a new approach to shared creative pipelines.

As a Senior Principal Technical Artist on Central Creative you will report to the Head of Creative and IP Strategy, Laura DeYoung. You will drive the vision for optimizing Riot’s creative pipelines to leverage shared development at company scale, and help identify the largest opportunities for efficiency gains through technology and process. Working with leaders across the company you will establish core future-facing workflows and a pipeline vision driven by product needs, guide ethical and effective use of AI tools, and establish a path forward to deliver these features to creatives everywhere.

Responsibilities:

Pipeline and Workflow Optimization:

Design and execute strategy for implementation & refinement of art pipelines that leverage automation and procedural generation techniques to reduce manual work and improve production efficiency.
Explore and champion internal processes through which teams across Riot can benefit from shared tooling innovation and refinement
Collaborate with software engineers, tool developers, and production teams to build efficient workflows for asset creation, integration, and management.
Lead efforts to optimize rendering processes, shading, and lighting setups through automation tools or AI-driven solutions.

AI and Automation Integration:

Identify opportunities to integrate AI and machine learning (ML) tools to automate repetitive tasks, such as asset generation, procedural content creation, texture generation, or animation.
Evaluate, then build the capabilities to prototype and implement AI-driven software to enhance productivity and artistic output, ensuring compatibility with the existing art pipelines.
Develop strategies for the deployment of AI tools across various stages of production, from concept art to final rendering.

Cross-Department Collaboration:

Act as the bridge between the art department, engineering teams, and production management, ensuring that artistic needs are met while technical solutions are feasible and effective.
Collaborate closely with Art Directors, VFX Supervisors, and other key stakeholders to align on creative goals and identify areas where technology can enhance the vision.
Provide technical direction and guidance to artists on the best practices for using new tools and workflows.

Process Improvement and Documentation:

Continuously assess and improve existing production pipelines, identifying bottlenecks or inefficiencies and implementing solutions to streamline processes.
Document workflows, standards, and best practices to ensure consistency and scalability across teams.
Analyze project timelines and resource allocation, proposing adjustments to optimize production schedules through technology and process enhancements.

Research and Development:

Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in AI, ML, and automation within the art and entertainment industries, identifying emerging trends and technologies that can enhance production quality and efficiency.
Partner with the internal Production AI team to lead R&D efforts to prototype new tools, workflows, and techniques that can be integrated into future projects.

Required Qualifications:

12+ years of experience as a technical artist or rendering engineer who has deep Digital Content Creation and Tools Development Knowledge in games or related industries
Experience building strategic visions and working within leadership in large organizations
Capability to act as an ambassador between art and engineering
Mastery in at least one industry established game engine (e.g. Unreal, Unity, Frostbite or Cry Engine) or a mature proprietary engine that supports AAA games at scale
Experience with and commitment to building long-term maintainable, testable, portable, easy to use, and stable systems
Experience developing relationships and influencing DCC providers (e.g. Adobe, Autodesk, Zbrush, etc.)
Experience in multiple aspects of 3D pipelines (rigging, modeling, texturing and look development)
Proficiency with one or more programming languages (e.g. python, C++, C#)
Experience in rendering and shader development (e.g. HLSL and GLSL)

Desired Qualifications:

8+ years experience in management in games or related industries
Experience with ZBrush, Substance, Houdini and Simplygon pipelines
Experience working with external vendors and technology partners
Experience with software engineering, tools development and computer graphics

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.