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Lead Artist (Games) Job at Los Angeles Times in El Segundo
Lead Artist (Games) Job at Los Angeles Times in El SegundoMediabistro • El Segundo, CA, United States
Lead Artist (Games) Job at Los Angeles Times in El Segundo

Lead Artist (Games) Job at Los Angeles Times in El Segundo

Mediabistro • El Segundo, CA, United States
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About the Role

Lead Artist serves as the creative and managerial cornerstone of the game development process, overseeing the visual direction, quality, and consistency of all artistic elements. This role combines hands‑on artistry with team leadership, guiding a multidisciplinary art team—including concept, environment, character, UI, and animation artists—through all phases of production.

Key Responsibilities

  • Oversee the artistic vision and execution for game projects, ensuring alignment with creative direction, gameplay goals, and technical constraints.
  • Lead, mentor, and support a multidisciplinary art team—including concept, environment, character, and UI artists—through all phases of development.
  • Define art quality benchmarks, coordinate cross‑discipline reviews, and partner with engineering to ensure performance optimization.
  • Establish and maintain art pipelines, workflows, and quality standards to ensure consistency and efficiency across projects.
  • Collaborate with producers, designers, and engineers to balance creative ambition with production timelines and technical feasibility.
  • Review and critique art assets to ensure they meet aesthetic, performance, and branding requirements for both pre‑production and live environments.
  • Partner with leadership to plan resources, allocate assignments, and forecast staffing needs for current and future projects.
  • Provide clear feedback, career development guidance, and performance coaching to foster team growth and retention.
  • Collaborate cross‑functionally to ensure visual fidelity, optimization, and consistent user experience across multiple platforms.
  • Maintain up‑to‑date knowledge of industry trends, tools, and technologies to continuously improve visual quality and production efficiency.
  • Ensure all art deliverables are completed on time and meet quality expectations for both internal milestones and public releases.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Art, Game Design, Computer Graphics, or a related field and 7+ years of experience in game art production, with at least 2–3 years in a leadership or lead artist role. OR 9+ years of experience in game art production, with at least 2–3 years in a leadership or lead artist role.
  • Proven experience shipping at least two or more live or released game titles on console, PC, or mobile platforms.
  • Strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in visual design, composition, lighting, color theory, and 3D asset creation.
  • Proficiency with industry‑standard tools such as Maya, Blender, ZBrush, Photoshop, and Unreal Engine or Unity.
  • Deep understanding of the game development pipeline and how art integrates with design, animation, and engineering workflows.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage, mentor, and motivate an art team in a fast‑paced, collaborative production environment.
  • Excellent communication, organization, and problem‑solving skills with the ability to give and receive constructive feedback.
  • Experience establishing and maintaining art production pipelines, asset guidelines, and quality benchmarks.
  • Strong ability to balance creative direction with technical and production constraints to deliver high‑quality results on time.
  • Familiarity with agile development tools and communication platforms such as JIRA, Confluence, and Slack.

    • Preferred Qualifications

  • Passion for gaming, visual storytelling, and pushing artistic boundaries within interactive media.
  • Experience with Substance Painter and other art tools.

    • Equal Opportunity Employment

    The L.A. Times Studios, LLC is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all qualified applicants regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We actively work to create an inclusive environment where all of our employees can thrive.

    The pay scale the Company reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of the posting is $155,000 to $165,000. Compensation will be determined based on the above factors and the requirements of the position.

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    Lead Artist At Games • El Segundo, CA, United States