Principal Tools & Pipeline Technical Artist - Unpublished R&D Product
About The Position
As a Technical Artist focused on Tools/Pipeline, you’ll employ your expert-level knowledge of 3D tools and problem-solving skills to build tools, maintain pipelines and provide technical support for artists on their most critical missions. You will critique work, mentor fellow Rioters and foster the long-term growth of an ambitious group of artists. As a Principal Technical Artist on an unpublished R&D product, you will architect and lead the end-to-end art production pipeline for an upcoming title moving from prototype through release. You will build best-in-class, scalable art workflows that empower internal teams and external partners to deliver high-quality assets with speed, consistency, and performance integrity. This role sits at the intersection of Art, Engineering, and Design, and is accountable for ensuring that art pipelines are performant, production-ready, and built for scale. You will report directly to the Director of Game Production.
Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in Technical Art or Pipeline Engineering in game development.
- Proven experience building and scaling production-ready art pipelines through release.
- Strong expertise in game engines (i.e. Unreal Engine), including asset workflows and performance profiling.
- Advanced proficiency in Maya (or comparable DCC tools), including rigging and export workflows.
- Strong programming skills in Python and proficiency in C++ and/or C#.
- Experience supporting external vendors or distributed development teams.
- Experience with version control systems (such as Perforce and git)
Nice To Haves
- Experience building automated asset validation and CI-integrated tooling.
- Experience transitioning projects from prototype to full production.
- Background in both hands-on rigging/tool development and high-level pipeline strategy.
- Experience shipping at least one game through late production and launch.
Responsibilities
- Architect and maintain scalable art production pipelines across Character, Animation, Environment, UI, and VFX.
- Define and uphold technical standards for asset creation, integration, and optimization for game performance.
- Build tools, scripts, and automation that improve iteration speed and production reliability.
- Develop rigging systems and DCC workflows (Maya or equivalent) that integrate cleanly into Unreal.
- Establish clear asset specs and onboarding documentation for external partners.
- Implement validation systems and quality gates to ensure assets meet performance and visual standards.
- Partner with Engineering on engine workflows, shaders, runtime performance, and build stability.
- Collaborate with Art and Design to translate creative goals into scalable technical solutions.
- Identify pipeline bottlenecks and resolve production risks ahead of milestones.
- Support artists hands-on while continuously improving workflows.
- Ensure art systems are stable and performant throughout the product life cycle.
Benefits
- 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.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Education Level
No Education Listed
