Senior Technical Artist (Contract in Romania)

At Arkadium our purpose is to have fun while creating fun - and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing for 20 years.

We’re the creators behind the world’s most-played games. From the Solitaire that came on your Windows machine, to hundreds of other games you’ve come to know and love - you can find our games on Arkadium.com, iOS, Android, and lots of other big sites worldwide.

As a proud Evergreen business our values of Fierce Drive, Positive Energy and Living Full Lives are the driving force behind how we run and the choices we make.

We’re privately held (aka stable and reasonable about growth), founder-led (aka passionate about our craft) and we consistently rank as a “Best Place to Work” (aka not your typical games company).

Interested in becoming an Arkadian? We’d love to connect with you.

Overview

Arkadium is seeking a talented and motivated Senior Technical Artist to join our team of passionate creatives. You will collaborate with designers and programmers to create visually stunning games that are enjoyed by millions of players worldwide. You will help bridge the gap between art and technology to create technically optimized experiences. Our ideal candidate has a strong technical background, expertise in pipelines and rendering techniques, and love for high-qualify visuals, with a stellar portfolio to back it up. This position offers the opportunity to work in a dynamic and fun environment where innovation and creativity are encouraged.

This role is open to candidates based in Romania. Business hours are 10-19 (UTC +2)

Responsibilities

• Take charge of preparing, integrating and managing art assets ( such as textures and animations, and others) within a game development platform, acting as the crucial connection between game artists and the programmers' fundamental codebase.
• Create engaging animations, particle effects, and shaders, that not only enhance but also elevate our gaming experiences.
• Monitoring the performance of our games and lead optimization efforts to ensure fluid and efficient performance across a diverse range of mobile devices while minimizing build size.
• Collaborate closely with engineers to ensure seamless integration of art assets into the game, all while preserving the artistic vision and staying within the platform’s technical constraints. Your role will carry the accountability for timely asset delivery, as well as meeting the performance and memory budget requirements.
• Regularly scrutinize the art process to uncover potential areas for tool enhancements. When required, step in to design and implement custom tools that streamline and boost the efficiency of art integration and management
• Establish and adhere to clear asset, tools and workflows naming conventions that are consistently understood across all teams and platforms.
• Foster effective communication among art, tech, and other key stakeholders, ensuring that art direction requirements are accurately comprehended and converted into viable features and enhancements.
• Engage regularly in collaborative sync-ups with the tech and art direction teams, aligning on choices, priorities, and proactively addressing potential issues or technical needs
• Provide comprehensive technical support to our teams on technical art matters, whether through documentation or hands-on training, while also guiding game artists in establishing an efficient art pipeline specifically tailored for the Unity platform.

Requirements

• 5+ years of industry experience as a Technical Artist.
• Proficiency in Unity 3D. Prior experience with, and adaptability to, various platforms and game frameworks is highly valued and considered a significant asset.
• Experience collaborating closely with programmers, along with the skill to effectively convey technical information to them from a distance.
• Familiarity of diverse architectural strategies for building games in Unity, with an emphasis on fostering an environment that allows multiple disciplines such as art, animation, and audio to operate independently.
• Scripting skills ( C#, Python or JS).
• Proficiency in Particle and Animations Systems.
• Ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with cross-functional team.
• High attention to detail and strong artistic skills (e.g., knowledge of color, lighting, and composition)
• Familiarity of diverse architectural strategies for building games in Unity, with an emphasis on fostering an environment that allows multiple disciplines such as art, animation, and audio to operate independently
• Skills in editor scripting with a focus on expanding the capabilities of game platforms, particularly the Unity Editor.
• Experience with source control solutions (e.g. Gi