Senior Artist, Technical (Rigger) - NBA 2K

Location: California, United States

Salary: $54–$75 per hour in California at the start of employment. Compensation ranges are also listed for other US states and British Columbia, Canada.

Company

Visual Concepts is a game development studio within hirify.global, creating sports and other multi-platform video game titles.

What you will do

• Update character rigs to improve deformation and simulate human anatomy more accurately.
• Create math node networks and implement body and facial rig connections, blendshapes, and corrective shapes.
• Build clean skinweight and blendweight maps for characters, clothing, and props.
• Write Python code to automate tasks, create procedural setups, and improve workflow efficiency.
• Diagnose and resolve character-rigging errors across tools and the game.
• Collaborate with technical artists, engineers, character artists, and other art departments on assets, feedback, documentation, and pipeline improvements.

Requirements

• Strong expertise in Autodesk Maya.
• Strong understanding of human anatomy and deformation.
• Working knowledge of Python and PyMel scripting.
• Experience with FACS-based facial rigs, joint placement, and skeleton design.
• Experience creating character rigs optimized for games, with knowledge of topology and edge flow for natural deformation.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and an interest in video games.

Nice to have

• Experience with NgSkinTools for weight painting.
• Experience creating UIs with Qt.
• Experience with Perforce version control.
• Experience creating jiggle joints or other dynamic simulation setups.
• Experience with the Maya Python API.

Culture & Benefits

• Work with an independent and entrepreneurial game development team.
• Collaborate with technical artists, engineers, and multiple art departments.
• Temporary roles may not be eligible for many employee payments or benefits.
• Regular US full-time employees may receive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, parental leave, wellbeing support, family planning support, commuter benefits, and fitness reimbursements.