Lead Technical Artist

Company Description

To create revolutionary, story-driven RPGs which go straight to the hearts of gamers — this is our mission. Want to dive deeper into our company’s culture? Explore our social media and check out our YouTube channel and Beyond the Game Blog where we share behind-the-scenes insights and stories direct from our team members!

Job Description

We’re looking for a Lead Technical Artist to join the CD PROJEKT RED team dedicated to crafting the studio’s first-ever original IP and video game, codenamed Project Hadar. We believe the universe we are creating is one bursting with limitless potential, and we want you to help us broaden and utilize it, making sure it not only matches gamers’ high expectations set by past CD PROJEKT RED titles but exceeds them.

As a Lead Technical Artist, you will be at the forefront of defining and shaping the technical vision for the art pipeline of our future game. You will play a key role in developing cutting-edge tools, and collaborating closely with engineers and artists to ensure our game achieves the highest visual fidelity and performance standards.

If you are a leader who thrives on solving complex challenges, taking ownership, and is passionate about pushing the limits of game technology, we’d love to hear from you.

(This position requires working in our Warsaw Studio. Hybrid working mode available).

Daily Responsibilities

• Prototyping, researching and integrating new features in Unreal Engine 5.
• Leading, mentoring, and guiding technical artists, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.
• Prototyping, researching, and integrating new tools and features to push artistic boundaries.
• Responsible for talent acquisition, performance evaluation, professional development, and employee engagement within the team.
• Ensuring high-quality asset integration while maintaining performance and memory efficiency.
• Defining best practices for assets pipeline and technical art, establishing and maintaining documentation.
• Collaborating closely with art directors, engineers, and designers to achieve the project’s creative and technical goals.
• Identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the production pipeline, ensuring smooth development processes.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of experience in a leadership role in a creative environment. We’re looking for someone who has mentored others, shaped project direction, and helped teams succeed.
• Minimum 6 years of experience in a technical art role.
• Strong leadership experience, including mentoring and guiding technical artists.
• Excellent knowledge of Unreal Engine 5.
• Excellent shader development skills.
• Strong understanding of DCC workflows.
• Experience in tool creation and automation using Python and/or C++.
• Proven track record of problem-solving and debugging complex technical challenges.
• Demonstrated commitment to taking ownership, setting goals, exchanging knowledge and driving initiatives independently.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work cross-discipline with artists and engineers.
• Fluent English (both written and spoken).

Nice to Haves

(These skills are not required but will make your application stand out.)

• Experience in procedural content creation (Houdini, Unreal’s PCG, Geometry Script, or Blender’s Geometry Nodes).
• Expertise in real-time scalable VFX (Niagara, EmberGen).
• Animation pipeline knowledge, including scripting for Maya, MotionBuilder, or Unreal’s Animation Blueprints and Sequencer.

Please include a portfolio that showcases your technical art contributions and, if possible, code samples or relevant tools/scripts that demonstrate your problem-solving and development skills.

Additional Information

Working mode

• Relocation to Warsaw is required.
• Office-First: working primarily from the Warsaw studio in a full time or hybrid mode.

Relocation support

• Relocation package – flight ticket, company apartment for your first month, relocating your pet, shipping your belongings: it’s all covered.
• Relocation assistance — processing your legalization operations for you, assistance with finding residence, tax settlements - all you need to feel right at home is taken care of.
• Polish lessons for foreign employees — and for your spouse or partner, too.
• Paid Leave — from 20 to 26 days of holiday for every team member per year, paid sick leave, and paid maternity & paternity leave.

Perks & Professional Growth

• Flexible working hours — start your workday anytime between 8:00 and 10:00 AM.
• A welcome pack filled with goodies — to help you feel right at home once you join the team.
• Trainings, lectures and courses — internal workshops, external training for each employee, ‘Meet a star’ events, knowledge-sharing initiatives, online tutorials, and e-learning classes are all available. There’s always something to learn!
• Merch — gifts for newborn rebels and regular chances to nab some cool swag!

Health & Well-being

• Private medical healthcare — a selection of medical plans with dental care to choose from, which are also accessible for your partner and relatives.
• Psychological care — free mental health support and various well-being webinars.
• Multisport card — gain access to a wide number of sporting and fitness facilities across the city.

Social Activities & Life in the Office

• Dog-friendly office — dog owner? Bring your pooch with you and look after them while working! There’s always a furry friend or two to meet at the studio.
• Social events — we host regular gatherings at the studio where we can all unwind, play games, and just have some fun together.
• Healthy selections — ​​organic fruit, snacks, muesli, organic honey, vegan milk, and speciality coffee are all at your disposal around the studio. Enjoy!
• Truly international working environment — a chance to meet and work with a diverse selection of people from all around the world.

Head office in Warsaw

• Sustainable campus with an eco ethos — solar panels provide green energy, 2000 plants and an air-filtering system to help provide clean air, electric car charging points, flower meadows, and more green features in the works.
• An onsite, well-equipped gym with a climbing wall, daily Gym Assistant support and yoga and healthy spine classes.
• Car and bike parking spaces.
• A designated space for your bicycle, as well as bicycle repair equipment and showers available whenever you need them.
• No dress-code — we like to keep it casual.

Estimated pay range for this position: 35 800 - 49 170 PLN gross monthly. This role may be eligible for a long term incentive program (option to purchase CDPR stock after the vesting period).

Final offers are dependent on job-related factors like experience and qualifications.

Type of contract: Employment Contract (“Umowa o pracę”).

If you’ve observed any irregularities (i.e. legal or ethical violations) in our recruitment process, please click here to report them anonymously.

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