Job Description

The Initiative is an early stage first-party game development studio located in Santa Monica and part of Microsoft's XBOX Game Studios. Our studio is about craft, creating story, innovating, and looking ahead to the next big thing.

At the Initiative, we are looking for a Senior Character Artist who is a collaborative problem solver and wants to dive into something new to create groundbreaking experiences for our players. Join us for this once in a career opportunity to help build the studio, define our culture, and create an environment to attract world-class talent.

We're looking for a passionate, talented, and driven artist, who enjoys collaborating with others to create realistic characters. In this role, you will help create an inspirational and memorable cast of characters. You are versatile, have strong development and production-sense, and can communicate and work with all departments.

You will work directly with the Art Director and Technical Art Director to develop the artistic style and technical pipelines. You will work with scan data and sculpting helping to evolve our character pipeline to deliver best in class characters.

* Work closely with the Art Director and leads to establish artistic style and ensure unified look and consistent quality across characters.
* Collaboration with team on from concept through completion on character development, including conceptual design, model, sculpts, texture, materials, shaders, hair, cloth, and rig.
* Actively contribute to growth of new start up studio. Lead by example, including demonstrating a willingness to give and receive feedback, collaborate with others to share techniques, ideas, and contribute to a positive working environment.
* Create unified female and male character models, including edge loops, UVs, blend shapes, morph targets.
* Provide expertise using latest software techniques, including Maya, ZBrush, Mudbox, Photoshop or equivalent software.
* Assist with development of rigs and work with team to resolve any technical or graphic issues.
* Work with team on defining facial setup supporting FACS or other solutions to support facial animation, VO, and expressions.
* Travel to external partners as needed including motion capture and/or scanning companies.
* 5+ years of experience in developing, and shipping AAA Characters for games or entertainment with market or critical acclaim.
* High level expertise in Maya, ZBrush, and Photoshop or equivalent software.
* Strong 2D and 3D artistic skills, with demonstrated excellence in anatomy and clothing.
* Demonstrated exceptional visual and technical understanding in sculpting, 3D modeling, texturing, materials creation, and baking maps.
* Bachelor's Degree or equivalent practical experience.

PREFERRED:

* Strong technical knowledge to ensure assets are optimal for performance and memory.
* Strong communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
* In-depth knowledge of material/shader development and experience with Substance Designer/Painter or equivalent software.
* Technical experience utilizing game engines such as Unity or Unreal

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.