Principal Technical Artist

Tripledot Studios is one of the largest independent mobile games companies in the world, with a multi-award-winning global team of over 2,500 across 12 studios. Our portfolio includes top-charting mobile games, collectively engaging over 25 million daily active users. This role sits within our PeopleFun studio, an award-winning creator of mobile games played by over 25 million players each month, founded and led by game industry veterans in Dallas.

About the role

PeopleFun is seeking a Principal Technical Artist to help stand up a brand new game team and shape the visual and technical foundation of a new casual mobile title. As one of the earliest hires, you will work closely with artists, engineers, and designers to rapidly prototype ideas, learn from them, and build durable pipelines, shaders, tools, and systems. This role is deeply technical, requiring both pipeline expertise and an artist’s eye, with ownership over art authoring, integration, optimization, rendering, VFX, and UI implementation in Unity UI Toolkit.

Responsibilities

• Rapidly prototype visual and technical ideas to evaluate direction, prove feasibility, and find the fun early.
• Architect and implement art pipelines, tools, and workflows from scratch, scaling them as the team and project grow.
• Author shaders and rendering solutions that deliver the intended look while staying within mobile performance and memory budgets.
• Author production-quality VFX/PFX (particle effects, shader-driven effects, animated feedback) and build systems/tooling for others to create them.
• Establish UI implementation standards in Unity UI Toolkit, including hierarchy structure, layout systems, and responsive behavior across mobile resolutions, aspect ratios, and safe areas.
• Define technical specifications and asset standards, and build validation tooling to maintain compliance as the project scales.
• Profile and optimize art content (draw calls, overdraw, atlasing, texture/memory budgets, load times, runtime performance) across device tiers.
• Develop tools and scripts in C#, Python, or similar to automate repetitive art and build tasks, including asset export, import, and marketing asset generation.
• Debug and resolve visual and performance issues, finding creative solutions within platform constraints.
• Stay current with mobile graphics, tools, and techniques, proactively bringing best practices into production.

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional experience as a Technical Artist in mobile games, with a demonstrated track record of technical depth and artistic judgment.
• Extensive hands-on Unity experience, including the render pipeline, asset pipeline, prefab/scene architecture, and editor tooling.
• Strong proficiency in shader development, lighting, and rendering techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to author VFX/PFX to a shippable quality bar, with a reel or portfolio showing your own effects work.
• Proven track record of prototyping and rapid iteration, balancing speed with long-term scalability.
• Demonstrated expertise with Unity UI Toolkit (layout systems, hierarchy design, UXML/USS, responsive UI for mobile).
• Deep understanding of optimizing art assets for mobile platforms, including memory management, profiling, and performance debugging.
• Proven experience building tools and scripts for art pipelines using C#, Python, or similar languages.
• Solid grounding in 2D art, animation, and UI design principles, with the craft sensibility to evaluate and elevate team work.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, cross-functional team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior professional experience within casual mobile gaming, including a deep understanding of the visual style and player expectations.
• Prior experience joining or founding a new game team, and comfort operating without established process or precedent.
• Prior experience taking a title from pre-production through soft launch, building visual and technical solutions from the ground up.
• Experience automating or supporting marketing and store asset production through tooling.
• Applied knowledge of animation systems, procedural asset generation, and VFX pipelines.
• Familiarity with mobile graphics limitations and strategies for maximizing visual impact within those constraints.
• Experience setting technical direction across multiple disciplines or mentoring other technical artists.
• Adaptability to new technologies and tools, with a proactive approach to learning and implementing new techniques.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and wellness coverage effective on your start date.
• $500 annual Wellness Spending Account for physical well-being, personal development, and lifestyle interests.
• 25 vacation days annually, in addition to statutory holidays.
• Generous parental leave program and family-friendly workplace culture.
• 100% RRSP matching up to 3.5% of annual salary.
• Confidential Employee Assistance Program for support and resources.
• Hybrid work model: in-office Monday–Thursday (with complimentary breakfast, lunch, and snacks) and flexible work-from-home Fridays.
• Regular team events and celebrations to recognize achievements and strengthen connections.
• Professional development opportunities and career advancement support.

Pay

The anticipated base salary range for this role is CAD $150,000–$170,000. Compensation is determined based on skills, experience, education, training, licenses, certifications, and business needs.

Schedule

Hybrid work model: in-office collaboration Monday through Thursday, with a flexible work-from-home day on Fridays.