Art lead

As an Art Lead at Riot you will help hire and coach a group of cross discipline artists including VFX artists, character artists, and animators, who will bring the Runeterra universe to life. You will help direct the visuals seen in our gameplay experience. You will understand and communicate the needs of your artists to leadership, as well as build meaningful external relationships through collaboration. By understanding your team’s goals you will help establish paths for your artists to achieve their career goals. You will identify strategic art resource needs and promote hiring for all art roles on the team. By being part of the leadership team, you will develop strategies and eliminate obstacles with other leaders across the studio.

Legends of Runeterra (LoR) is our collectible card game featuring beloved Champions from the League of Legends universe. As an Art Lead on LoR, you will lead and direct cinematic champion level ups and VFX work while collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team of artists and outsourcers. You will help to create impactful in-game moments, continue to build our capabilities, and raise the bar for what is possible.

Responsibilities:

• Accountable for the overall quality bar of in-game cinematics, VFX, and delivering feedback.
• Guide the development of efficient art pipelines
• Drive the development of Style Guides and Process Guides
• Lead and improve art team rituals to support high quality craft and individual growth
• Provide meaningful opportunities for growth and career development
• Manage and build great relationships with external Art studios and contractors
• Improve efforts to build outsourcing strategies and documentation
• Act with complete autonomy if the need arises; you’re dedicated in finding creative and effective solutions to vigilantly eliminate difficult problems

Required Skills:

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in game development or an adjacent field.
• Demonstrated ability to create high quality VFX art and drive the creation of art from multiple disciplines.
• Expert proficiency in art fundamentals, design principles and color theory
• Proven experience leading/mentoring teams and individuals. Growth minded and motivated towards teaching, enabling, and coaching others.
• Experience giving thorough direction and delivering timely, clear feedback to other artists on craft & direction
• A strong communicator and able to convey abstract/sophisticated ideas in a concise way

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of the game development pipeline including optimization and implementation
• Familiarity with Unity
• Familiarity with the Runeterra (League of Legends universe) IP.
• Experience in multiple art disciplines, such as animation or 3D, is a plus

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 players’ experiences, this could be your role!

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.

• (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $155,600.00 – $217,400.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

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, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant’s criminal history (LAMC 189.00).

Tagged as: Career Development, Collaboration, Color Theory, Design, Empathy, Leadership, Outsourcing, Teaching