Senior Technical Artist (TEMP), Hearthstone | Irvine, CA or Remote

Team Name:

Job Title:

Senior Technical Artist (TEMP), Hearthstone | Irvine, CA or Remote

Requisition ID:

R026363

Job Description:

Your Mission

• Pull up a chair and join us by the hearth. The Hearthstone team is seeking a dedicated and well-rounded Senior Technical Artist.

As a Senior Technical Artist, you’ll use your solid understanding of game creation tools and production methods to help maintain and grow our ability to develop art assets and integrate them into the game. You will bring your initiative and creative problem-solving abilities across a wide range of technical solutions that are operating on a large scale and in a distributed environment. We are a team that values open-minded collaboration, direct feedback, and work in a fast-paced, highly iterative environment. We’d love to have you join us!

• The duration of this contract position would be 12 months.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this position is Irvine, CA We are also open to a remote agreement.

Responsibilities:

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Supporting the creative development process with technical expertise such as prototyping, R&D and active development of new visual features.
• Acting as a bridge between Art and Engineering, ensuring Hearthstone’s unique visual style and technical requirements are met throughout the development pipeline.

Supporting the Art team through any technical issues they may encounter while using content creation tools or when integrating their assets into the Hearthstone engine, with an eye toward mobile and desktop compatibility.

• Developing and maintaining art pipelines and processes that are tailored for Hearthstone’s frequent content releases, card expansions, and cosmetics.

Identifying potential and recurring workflow problems specific to Hearthstone’s production and collaborating with other developers to find viable solutions through communication, mentorship, and both custom and off-the-shelf tools solutions.

• Testing new tools and vetting workflows before deployment to production, ensuring compatibility with Hearthstone’s asset requirements and performance goals.

Helping to promote performance optimization for art assets by creating clear standards, performance monitoring tools, and building a maintainable process for reviewing and optimizing game assets in line with Hearthstone’s style and technical constraints.

• Championing the creation of accessible, inclusive, and engaging visual content that resonates with Hearthstone’s diverse player base.

Requirements:

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience as a technical artist in a professional game dev environment.
• Experience in a live game environment
• Experience with game art optimization

Knowledge & Skills

• Experience as a digital artist, with extensive knowledge of digital art tools such as Maya, Photoshop, or similar applications.
• The ability to create add-ons and extensions for art tools and Unity. You’re comfortable developing in C#, Python, HLSL
• A fundamental understanding of game development and how the art pipeline can support the development process.
• Experience supporting a 3D art pipeline with rigging, animation, shader development, and implementation of assets.
• Proficiency in technical problem-solving and debugging game content and process, with a focus on optimizing 2D and 3D assets for performance on a variety of platforms.

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with a service-oriented, support-focused approach. Ability to illustrate a results-oriented and collaborative approach to tools development, problem-solving, and challenges of scale. Extra Points Experience working with AAA game engines such as Unity, Unreal, etc. Experience with mobile game development Knowledge and familiarity with Blizzard’s art styles

Required Application Materials:

Resume An online portfolio illustrating your technical ability in practical application Your Platform Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. Our World Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet! Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners. We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply. We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics. Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance; 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching; Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave; Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others; If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance. Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/. In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $38.85 - $71.83 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.