Principal VFX Artist (Gamedev)

TL;DR

Principal VFX Artist (Game Art): Defining the VFX quality bar for Total War products and mentoring the VFX team with an accent on high-quality, performant visuals. Focus on creating artistic and technical benchmarks, developing proprietary tools and pipelines, and optimizing workflows for content creation.

Location: Hybrid (must be in the studio 3 days per week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) in Horsham, West Sussex, UK

Company

A leading game development studio known for creating deep and detailed strategy games for millions of players worldwide.

What you will do

• Guide and inspire the VFX team to deliver high-quality, performant visuals.
• Develop visual effects that serve as artistic and technical benchmarks for internal teams and partners.
• Provide mentorship, training, and documentation to the VFX team.
• Collaborate with Art Directors and Leads to establish VFX style guides across multiple projects.
• Partner with cross-discipline teams to build and maintain efficient pipelines.
• Research emerging VFX technologies and plan technical roadmaps to maintain industry competitiveness.

Requirements

• Ability to create and implement world-class real-time VFX in a game engine.
• 5+ years of experience in game development with at least 3 shipped titles.
• Proven experience mentoring artists and supporting their career development.
• Strong understanding of VFX asset costs and performance impact across platforms.
• Proficiency in image manipulation tools (Photoshop, Substance Designer) and 3D software (Maya, 3ds Max).
• Must be based in or able to work from the Horsham studio 3 days per week.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of Houdini and Embergen for real-time VFX.
• Experience as a Senior artist on 2+ shipped titles.
• Familiarity with data management tools such as SVN or Perforce.
• Formal art or technical training with a broad skill set.

Culture & Benefits

• Bespoke relocation package for the employee and their dependents.
• Private medical, dental, life, and permanent health insurance.
• Temporary "Work from Anywhere" option available each year (subject to restrictions).
• Enhanced holiday allowance, no-notice holidays, and flexible core hours.
• Wellbeing support including virtual confidential counselling.