Open-Rank Professor of Interactive Media and Games - Game Art and Animation

About the role

The Interactive Media & Games Division within USC's School of Cinematic Arts is seeking a candidate for a tenure/tenure track or non-tenure track faculty position in the field of Interactive Media and Games with a specialty in art direction and creation for video games and real-time graphics engines.

Responsibilities

• Teach game art courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level, covering topics such as intermediate game animation, game concept art, skybox painting, and environmental modeling.
• Advanced courses may follow research interests, including motion capture, procedural art, and interface design.
• Mentor and critically teach students to create usable, high-quality assets and establish best practices in the field of real-time animation.
• Work within diverse and inclusive communities of discourse and practice, demonstrating good communication skills, project planning, and professional rigor and ethics.
• Work with new and emerging technologies and methodologies, including proficiency with industry-standard real-time art and content creation tools such as Blender, Autodesk Maya, ZBrush, and Substance 3D (Painter/Designer).

Requirements

• Minimum Education: Graduate Degree in Fine Art, Game Development, Software Engineering, Production Design or a related field.
• Minimum Experience: Multiple shipped titles. Experience teaching or mentoring students in game development, art, or a related field. Experienced with interdisciplinary collaborations, working with designers, developers, artists, producers, etc.
• Preferred Education: Terminal Degree in Fine Art, Game Development, Software Engineering, Production Design, or a related field.
• Preferred Experience: 3 or more years teaching graduate and undergraduate classes in game development, real-time animation, or fine art. Familiarity with emerging AI-assisted art and content creation workflows, including hands-on experience with at least one or two widely used tools (e.g., Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Runway, or comparable platforms) and their application within game art pipelines.

Qualifications

• Established competence working with real-time digital art.
• Demonstrated ability to work within diverse and inclusive communities of discourse and practice.
• Proficiency with industry-standard real-time art and content creation tools such as Blender, Autodesk Maya, ZBrush, and Substance 3D (Painter/Designer) or equivalent pipelines.
• Demonstrated ability to work with new and emerging technologies and methodologies.

Skills

• Good communication skills.
• Project planning.
• Professional rigor and ethics.
• Ability to work within diverse and inclusive communities of discourse and practice.
• Experience with emerging AI-assisted art and content creation workflows.

Benefits

The core salary range for this position is listed below. This is a 9-month full-time position, either tenure/tenure track or non-tenure track.

• Non-tenure Track Assistant Professor: $83k - $90k
• Associate Professor: $85k - $95k
• Full Professor: $90k - $110k
• Tenure/Tenure Track Assistant Professor: $90k - $100k
• Associate Professor: $110k - $135k
• Full Professor: $120k - $175k

Pay

The core salary range for this position is listed below. This is a 9-month full-time position, either tenure/tenure track or non-tenure track.

• Non-tenure Track Assistant Professor: $83k - $90k
• Associate Professor: $85k - $95k
• Full Professor: $90k - $110k
• Tenure/Tenure Track Assistant Professor: $90k - $100k
• Associate Professor: $110k - $135k
• Full Professor: $120k - $175k

Schedule

This is a 9-month full-time position, either tenure/tenure track or non-tenure track.