Associate Art Director, Concept Art - Unpublished R&D Product

As an Associate Art Director at Riot, you will bring worlds to life through your vision, craft, and leadership.  You’ll help define the next generation of concept art style at Riot, build and guide a team of talented artists, and your work in character, prop, and environment design will stand as an example to the team. Beyond art, you will be accountable for your team’s artistic quality, performance, and growth.

As a Associate Art Director, Concept Art on the Research & Development team, you will be responsible for creating and maintaining a healthy Concept Art team to meet the objectives of the project.  You will be accountable for the creation and execution of an artistic vision, organizing with Game Design, Narrative, Production, and Art to ensure that vision is compatible with the goals of the product. You will report to the Product Art Director.

Responsibilities:

• Define the concept art style through concept design work, style guides, best practices and communication with the team
• Lead and leverage the concept art team to high quality execution
• Create exemplary stylized art assets in a broad range, including characters, creatures, environments, props, organics, and hard surface
• Work with the 3D Art teams to establish the right process to fulfill their concept art needs
• Partner with Narrative to create strong creative and visual development processes
• Discuss approaches in style, as well as technical and design constraints such as character setup, environmental modularity, and gameplay clarity
• Lead the collaborative process with the Design team to work with and understand their goals
• Build and maintain a diverse, healthy, highly functional Concept Art team that’s strongly aligned with Riot Values, while working quickly and effectively to resolve any team health issues
• Partner with the Production team to create the right amount of visibility into your team’s deliverables and velocity
• Be a great career mentor and coach for the artists on the team

Required Qualifications:

• Experience working with modern game engines such as Unreal, Unity, or proprietary technologies
• 10+ years of industry experience
• 5+ years of professional experience as a Senior or Lead Concept Artist
• 4+ years of management experience
• Professional experience working in stylized art
• Experience creating clear concept art for 3D artists

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working on a variety of monsters, characters, props and environments
• Experience working with external vendors, giving direction and delivering timely, clear feedback
• Experience in both creative development and production work
• Experience working on high-volume content games

When submitting your application, please provide a portfolio of your high-quality character art - including stylized artwork. And as a part of the application process, you may also be asked to complete an art test.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

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. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.