Lead Character Artist

About the role

As a Lead Character Artist at Cloud Chamber, you will play a key role in establishing the overall visual quality bar and guidelines for character development on the project. Under the supervision of the Art Director, you’ll lead a team of artists to achieve their full potential, collaborate with a passionate group of game developers to craft compelling stylized character assets that support our aesthetic, meet technical requirements, and gameplay needs, ultimately bringing the richly imagined world of BioShock to life.

Responsibilities

• Manage, coach, and mentor a team of character artists to support their career growth, development, and artistic output.
• Set artistic standards in Unreal Engine, build exemplary reference assets, and establish clear workflows to ensure consistent quality.
• Work closely with Directors, Leads, Concept, Environment, Design, Gameplay, and Animation teams to prototype assets and ensure character specifications align with project goals.
• Collaborate with the Art Director and Outsourcing Manager to assign and schedule character assets for external development partners.
• Contribute to material pipelines, track team output, supervise bug distribution, and provide input on custom tools and software.

About the team

At Cloud Chamber, we are champions of high standards, pushing for progress and embracing change. We work closely and constructively across design, art, engineering, animation, and audio teams to realize our creative ambitions. Together, we stay current on technological advancements and identify solutions to overcome developmental obstacles to deliver a world-class AAA experience.

Requirements

• 10+ years of professional experience in the video game industry, with 2 or more shipped titles as a character artist (preferably on a first-person title).
• Proven success managing, guiding, and mentoring a team of character artists.
• Expert proficiency in 3D creation tools including 3ds Max, Maya, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marvelous Designer, and Unreal Engine.
• Mastery of the PBR pipeline for texture creation, including baking tools, Substance Painter, and Photoshop.
• Exceptional background in traditional art with an expert understanding of human anatomy, composition, proportion, volume, light, and color.

Skills

• A reliable, positive force multiplier, actively seeking opportunities to integrate work across disciplines and contribute to a healthy, supportive team environment.
• A solid communicator with excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to articulate complex ideas clearly, package information for diverse audiences, and deliver difficult feedback with empathy and professionalism.
• Experienced in working in cross-disciplinary teams with strong communication skills.
• Persistent and self-motivated with a proactive mindset.
• Able to maintain effectiveness and quality under pressure, ambiguity, and fast-changing priorities.
• An active listener able to build and maintain trust-based relationships across all levels of the organization, understand differing perspectives, and navigate organizational complexity with tact and emotional intelligence.
• Highly open to feedback and direction, possessing a desire to learn new skills, and capable of producing quick, quality revisions based on new insights or constraints.
• Strong ownership of tasks, striving to drive work forward autonomously while maintaining a critical eye for detail and organization, ensuring high standards of quality.
• Dedicated to upholding Cloud Chamber's core values, contributing to a positive and respectful company culture while striving for excellence in all endeavors.

About us

At Cloud Chamber, we strive to make BioShock games that move people: evocative, immersive, and meaningful experiences that stay with you long after you’ve rolled credits. Great games are born from great collaborations, supported by a culture that brings out the best in our teams. We work openly, learn through play, take ownership, push ourselves to be better, and deliver for our players.

Pay

The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $150,400 and $180,000 USD per year. Base pay offered is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. The total compensation package may also include a bonus and/or equity awards, eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan, and the Employee Stock Purchase Program.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage.
• 14 paid holidays per calendar year.
• Paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company's discretionary time off program.
• Up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year.
• Paid parental and compassionate leave.
• Wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support.
• Family planning support through Maven.
• Commuter benefits.
• Reimbursements for fitness-related expenses.

Language requirements

For candidates located in Quebec, this position requires professional proficiency in both French and English. Proficiency in English is required to collaborate with our U.S. teams and international partners, as well as to handle specialized technical documentation (reading, writing, and communication).