Principal Character Technical Artist at ProbablyMonsters
Company: ProbablyMonsters
Location: San Mateo, California, USA
Job Type: Full-Time / Remote / Hybrid / Onsite
Salary: $163,400 – $241,880 USD per year
About the Company
ProbablyMonsters is a game development company focused on building world-class AAA multiplayer experiences. The studio brings together diverse creative talent dedicated to innovation, inclusivity, and delivering thrilling gameplay experiences for players worldwide.
Job Overview
ProbablyMonsters is seeking a Principal Character Technical Artist to help drive the technical vision and pipeline for character development in a free-to-play AAA multiplayer action game. This role combines technical leadership, advanced Unreal Engine expertise, and high-end character pipeline development to create industry-leading playable characters and animation systems.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to shape character feature development and identify technical risks early.
- Develop innovative solutions that enhance gameplay mechanics and visual fidelity.
- Establish technical standards for character rigging, technical animation, cloth simulation, and dynamic character presentation in Unreal Engine 5.
- Prototype advanced technical art solutions for next-generation character systems.
- Maintain and improve scalable character pipelines from DCC applications into Unreal Engine.
- Create procedural tools that improve content production efficiency across distributed studio teams.
- Define performance budgets and optimize character systems for multiplayer environments.
- Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure scalable animation systems across multiple platforms.
- Mentor and guide character technical artists while fostering technical growth and creative problem-solving.
Qualifications
- 8+ years of game development experience.
- At least 3 years in a Senior or Principal Technical Artist role on a shipped AAA title.
- Deep expertise with Unreal Engine 5, including Blueprints, Control Rig, Niagara, and cloth/physics simulation.
- Advanced proficiency with Maya, Blender, Houdini, or other DCC tools.
- Strong scripting experience with Python, C++, or VEX.
- Exceptional understanding of anatomy, facial rigging, skeletal rigging, weight painting, and procedural animation.
- Experience developing tools and scalable production pipelines.
- Strong leadership, mentorship, and communication skills.
- Experience working on live-service, multiplayer, or free-to-play games is a plus.
Benefits
- Competitive salary with bonus and equity opportunities.
- 401(k) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program eligibility.
- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage.
- 14 paid holidays annually.
- Paid vacation, sick leave, parental leave, and compassionate leave.
- Mental health and wellness support programs.
- Family planning support through Maven.
- Fitness reimbursement and commuter benefits.
- Flexible work options including remote, hybrid, and onsite opportunities.