Environment Art Lead

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Environment Art Lead based in United States. This is a hands-on environment art leadership role focused on building a visually compelling world for a co-op, open-world game in Unreal Engine 5. You will spend most of your time creating environments, including biomes, architecture, terrain, foliage, materials, lighting, and hero spaces. Alongside your artistic work, you will guide a small environment art team and translate the broader creative vision into clear standards and feedback. You will own the environment art pipeline from concept through in-engine implementation and final polish. The role combines creative craft, technical expertise, mentorship, and practical production judgment. You will help balance visual ambition with delivery needs while exploring new techniques and tools that can improve the quality and efficiency of production. Accountabilities: - Create final-quality environment assets and scenes in Unreal Engine 5, including modular architecture, props, terrain, foliage, materials, and lighting from blockout through final polish. - Establish a high-quality artistic bar and provide clear standards for environment art across the team. - Collaborate with the Game Art Director, Concept Artists, and other game leads to align environments with the project's overall visual direction. - Provide regular, specific feedback and style guidance to environment artists and review assets for quality, consistency, and cohesion. - Represent environment art during planning and production discussions, helping scope work, identify risks early, and balance creative ambition with delivery timelines. - Lead and support the Environment Art team, including hiring, onboarding, mentoring, and day-to-day coordination as the team grows. - Coordinate with outsourcing and freelance partners when applicable, maintaining quality and alignment with the project's artistic standards. - Own and improve the environment art pipeline from concept through engine implementation.

- Monitor industry developments and emerging techniques, particularly generative AI, and recommend tools or workflows that can improve production quality and efficiency. Requirements: - 6+ years of professional experience creating environment art for games, including at least one shipped title where you owned significant environment work end to end. - Portfolio demonstrating strong range and artistic control across stylized environments, with compelling composition, material definition, lighting, and world-building; in-engine work and breakdowns are strongly preferred. - Deep experience with Unreal Engine, including level building, Material Editor, Lumen, Nanite, lighting, optimization, and understanding of how artistic decisions affect performance and frame budgets. - Strong proficiency with industry-standard 2D and 3D tools such as Photoshop, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Maya, Blender, or 3DS Max. - Strong knowledge of modular kit creation and trim-sheet workflows. - Excellent communication, collaboration, and mentorship skills, with the ability to work effectively in a remote and asynchronous environment across time zones. - Availability for several hours of daily overlap with U. S. Pacific Time. - Experience working in small teams where you have taken on multiple responsibilities and made independent scope and production decisions. - Strong understanding of stylized art direction and the ability to balance visual quality, gameplay needs, production constraints, and shipping priorities. - Curiosity about emerging technology and a willingness to explore AI-assisted tools and new approaches to environment art production. Benefits: - Annual salary range of $152,000–$198,000 USD. - Equity opportunity.