Technical Art Director

Who We Are

2K Games is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, 31st Union, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment.

Located in Vancouver, BC, 2K Sports Lab is a small collective being formed within 2K Games that is driving the research and development of future sports interactive entertainment programs. Within this group, speculative work will be done on future sports games with an eye towards taking the magic of 2K’s publishing and development expertise and applying them to future opportunities. 

Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Lego Drive, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM.

At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role.  If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply!

What We Need

2K Sports Lab, is seeking a Technical Art Director to build and lead a dynamic team of Technical Artists to support internal product development. You will be responsible for ensuring project quality and the well-being of team members in the 2K Sports Lab studio, providing high-quality tools, technology, and processes needed to build content for the game.

What You’ll Do

• Play a senior role to provide leadership for the Technical Art team and Individual Contributors when possible
• Build a world-class Technical Art team of Technical Animators, Riggers, Material Designers, Tools Scripters, Simulation Experts, Environment Technical Artists, and more
• Provide constructive feedback to team members, encourage the development of a significant knowledge base in others, mentor and guide their career growth and progression
• Research, build and maintain technologies and art workflows. (Environments, props, characters, shaders, lighting, and rigs)
• Collaborate with Art and Engineering to drive research, identify new workflows, technologies for improved pipelines, and streamlined creation processes, with large-scale asset volume in mind
• Collaborate with other technical artists daily to find opportunities for improved workflows and tools for both internal use and potentially external (outsource) use as well
• Establish and implement naming conventions within assets, tools, and workflows
• Develop standards and metrics for budgeting and supervising technical art tasks
• Partner with the engineering team to ensure build stability, and to ensure that memory and performance budgets are being maintained

What Will Make You A Great Fit

• 10+ years in the games, film, or animation industries
• Previous experience leading technical art teams and experience shipping at least 2 AAA titles in a Leadership Position
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal and leadership skills.
• Strong Unreal 5 experience is an asset
• Fluent in Maya and Python with significant experience writing animation, rigging, shaders and UI tools
• Experience with cloth and rigid/soft body physics setup for characters, including collision volumes
• Experience researching, piloting, and rolling out new techniques
• Interest in gaming platform limitations and advantages
• Ability to turn creative aspirations into achievable realities

The pay range for this position in British Columbia, Canada at the start of employment is expected to be between 103,700 and 153,500 CAD per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation packa