Gaming Full-Time Hybrid

Senior Technical Artist

Senior Technical Artist (Character) at Naughty Dog

Role Overview

As a Senior Technical Artist (Character), you will operate at the intersection of art and engineering. This role focuses on developing character-focused rendering features, writing shaders, building tools, and architecting scalable pipelines that empower artists to achieve Naughty Dog’s high visual standards.

The ideal candidate combines strong programming and math skills with a refined artistic eye and deep knowledge of character creation workflows.

Key Responsibilities

  • Write fragment, vertex, and compute shaders aligned with art direction.
  • Develop advanced shading features (e.g., skin, cloth, wetness, mud) and rendering effects.
  • Build and maintain tools in Python and C++ to support character pipelines.
  • Architect scalable, maintainable code for long-term production use.
  • Optimize and troubleshoot character creation workflows for performance and stability.
  • Collaborate with programmers and artists to design and implement new character deformation systems and features.
  • Support content teams by debugging tools, assets, and performance issues.

Required Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience as a Technical Artist or Technical Director focused on character pipelines.
  • Expert-level proficiency in HLSL or GLSL, Python, and C++.
  • Strong understanding of shaders, rendering systems, and tool development.
  • Excellent debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
  • Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Bonus Skills

  • Experience with Houdini, Substance Designer, Substance Painter, or similar tools.
  • Experience developing tool UIs using QT.
  • Active participation in industry events such as GDC or SIGGRAPH.
  • Experience contributing to technical publications or educational outreach.

Compensation & Benefits

  • Competitive base salary range of $143,700 – $179,600 USD.
  • Eligibility for annual bonus and incentive plans.
  • Comprehensive benefits package.
  • Opportunity to contribute to award-winning, industry-leading game development projects.

Naughty Dog is an equal opportunity employer. Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage in accordance with applicable laws.

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