Principal Art Outsourcing Manager

As a Riot Art Outsource Manager, you will help connect product teams to the right external partners while improving art outsource infrastructure and practices. You will build meaningful and trusting external relationships through clear two-way communication and planning.  Your approach will ensure sustainable production without compromising quality. A perfect blend between a veteran production artist and logistics expert, you will strive to make the outsourcing experience truly world-class and engaging for all parties involved.

As a Principal Art Outsourcing Manager on an unpublished R&D product, you will help shape the visual quality of our game worlds. In this role, you will create high quality prop assets while helping guide and review work created by external art partners. You will help define workflows, contribute to artistic standards, and guide asset development to support the vision of the game. And as a senior member of the art team you will work closely with Art Direction, Environment Art, Production, and external vendors to deliver high quality content at scale. Through your craft collaboration and feedback you will help inspire the internal team while ensuring outsourced content meets project expectations.

Responsibilities:

• Create high quality prop assets that help evolve and maintain the artistic standards of the project.
• Define workflows best practices and quality expectations for prop creation.
• Partner with Art Directors and Environment Artists to maintain a cohesive visual style.
• Prepare asset briefs, reference packages and feedback documentation.
• Identify and proactively troubleshoot roadblocks in the outsourcing pipeline, escalating issues when necessary
• Work with Production to plan schedules, track deliverables, and identify risks.
• Mentor artists and help grow the team's craft and expertise.
• Contribute to the evolution of our outsourcing processes, tools, and best practices to improve efficiency and quality over time

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of industry experience creating high quality game art with a strong focus on props and world building.
• Portfolio demonstrating high quality realistic and stylized prop art for shipped games.
• Experience working within various game engines like Unreal, Unity, etc. and modern content creation pipelines.
• Experience working with external vendors and outsourcing teams.
• Strong understanding of form materials, storytelling and visual design.
• Experience leading initiatives and influencing cross discipline teams.
• Experience working with modeling, sculpting, and texturing programs such as Maya, Zbrush, Substance, and Photoshop

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of procedural workflows and modern content creation tools.
• Experience building scalable outsourcing strategies.
• Previous leadership or principal level experience within game development.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first. That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.