Art Director

Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres.

In 2022, we announced that our studio is implementing a four-day work week as well as supporting in-studio, remote within Canada, and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options to our employees.

Blackbird Interactive is seeking a passionate and talented Art Director to help lead the successful delivery of a large IP on VR devices.

The Art Director will work collaboratively with Design, Audio, Programming and Production to maintain and broaden the artistic vision for our game.

We are looking for a grounded art leader who can drive and execute from concept to shipping with world-class quality across all art disciplines. The Art Director must be able to clearly communicate and present the art direction to both internal and to external partners.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the Art Vision whilst driving new content and features.
• Collaborate with production to ensure the product stays on time and on budget to the highest quality.
• Adopt and apply VR methodologies to a developing Art Pipeline, ensuring that the product performs and reads on a Virtual Reality platform.
• Create and drive visual targets that set the vision & quality bar for art in-engine.
• Delegate and direct responsibilities where needed, and proactively seek out and present solutions to problems.
• Give clear and consistent communication (and feedback) to the development team and external partners throughout production. Sell the Art Direction to all invested parties.
• Collaborate with the Game leadership team to deliver a world-class addition to a popular indie franchise, and work with production to ensure product stays on time and on budget.
• Help mentor and grow artists to improve in their thinking, process, and craft. Inspire the art team to deliver consistent quality across all art disciplines.
• Collaborate with studio art leadership to grow and maintain an inspiring art culture, and participate in hiring and maintaining the best talent in the industry.

Requirements

• 5+ years of extensive games industry art experience.
• 2+ years preferred as an Art Director.
• Knowledge of VR title development and pipelines (ideally with experience)
• Experience with both Console and PC releases
• Unreal 4 or 5 experience
• Expresses passion and strong skills in both 2D and 3D art.
• Communicate an eagerness for playing current popular games and understanding the art direction decisions.