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With a rich history of developing multiple AAA franchises such as Little Big Planet and Crackdown, as well as contributing to genre-defining titles like the Forza Motorsport and Hitman series, Sumo Sheffield's vast development experience spans multiple genres and platforms.

As winners of the TIGA Star Employment Award for 2021, recipients of the GI Biz 2020 Best Places to Work Award and listed as one of the UK's 100 Best Large Companies to Work for in 2021 and 2022, Sumo Digital has enjoyed 20 years of stability and growth since its formation in 2003 and continues to strive for excellence across every single project.

The team have a track record of working on some of the world's biggest and best games and received two BAFTAs for their work on Sackboy: A Big Adventure. As the scale and exclusivity of projects continues to grow, there's never been a more exciting time to join the Sumo Sheffield family!

The role @ Sumo Sheffield

We're looking for a Technical Art Director to oversee the technical art processes, pipelines and quality across our projects at Sumo Sheffield! As well as leading the Technical Art, this post will be responsible for the technologies and techniques that the studio uses to ensure the optimal balance between art quality and game performance.

Candidates for therole must demonstrate a broad understanding of the art and technical processes used in the creation of real-time content for video games.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead, develop and grow the technical art team at Sumo Sheffield. The post holder will work at a studio level to support 4-5 projects simultaneously alongside the Art Leadership team.

This position is open to remote, hybrid and in-studio working (within the UK, international remote working may be considered on a case by case basis).

Within this role you will:

• 
  You will research and guide the exploration of potential methodologies and solutions to achieve the visual goals of the project.
• Supervise and direct the studios Technical Art team across multiple projects.
• Collaborate with the Code, Design and Art teams to identify, research and help implement new ideas and technical art features needed for each projects vision.
• Define the roadmap and long-term vision for the Technical Art team.
• Strategically plan against the needs of the various disciplines that require technical art support.
• Define best practices, workflows and pipelines as well as developing and improving existing processes.
• Work with the other content creators to drive in game budgets and ensure proper game performance and optimisation.
• Drive research and development into new software and art techniques through an understanding of emerging trends and technologies in games, media and visual effects.
• Build relationships with the Technical teams from other Sumo studios to collaborate, share and leverage technologies that would be useful to Sumo Sheffield projects.
• Organise and lead training across the Art and Technical Art Teams
  

We need you to have:

• Full cycle game development industry experience as a Technical Artist working on Image Quality, Shaders & Materials, Lighting, Post FX, Rendering, Performance, and Pipelines.
• Must have shipped AAA 3D titles in a leadership role.
• Deep understanding of Shaders, Lighting, and Rendering systems.
• Excellent understanding of game development process from concept and pre-production, through production, to finalising and optimisation.
• Solid experience and understanding of content pipelines on modern game consoles.
• Strong technical proficiency and understanding of common and proprietary tools and technology used for content creation.
• Experience driving the optimisation of content for game engines.
• Some experience in sculpting, modelling, rigging and animation and understanding of the related workflows
• Can work with a team to troubleshoot issues and create efficient pipelines and processes.
• Strong understanding and proficiency in programming/scripting Languages or similar systems required for tools and pipelines.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, interpersonal and organisational skills.
• Have a creative eye and aesthetic judgement to help drive and critique visual quality.
• Diligence with individual and team tasks, taking into account scheduling and budget limitations.
  

What we offer:

. Defined Annual Bonus Scheme

. ULEV car scheme

. Monthly allowance to spend on enhancing benefits

. Salary Sacrifice Pension

. Flexible Working

. 21 days free-use holiday

+ your birthday off

+ 5 learning days including 1 volunteer day

+ a duvet day

+ Christmas shutdown from Christmas Eve to New Year

+ Bank Holidays

+ extra allowance accrued for longer service

. Free dental insurance

. Life Assurance 4x Salary

. Income Protection of 75% for 5 years

. Enhanced Mat/Paternity & Adoption pay

. Employee Assistance Programme:

. Help at Hand - Remote GP, Mental Health & Physio appointments

. Free financial & home buying support consultations

. Cycle to Work Scheme

. Payroll Giving Scheme

. Access to 4,000 Udemy Courses

. Career Development Pathway

. Wrap Parties.

. Project Completion Awards

. Game/Creative Jams

. Big Family Events

. Studio social activities, e.g. running, board games, film, yoga, life drawing...

. Prism - Sumo's employee diversity focus group

. Free fruit and drinks in our studios

. Employee Referral Bonus

Where do we stand on diversity?

At Sumo, we want to enable everyone to bring their full, authentic selves to work every single day. We acknowledge that the games industry is far from perfect and a global organisation with people all over the world, from all kinds of backgrounds, we know it's part of our duty to provide everyone at Sumo with a safe, accepting and affirming working environment.

We encourage and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

More about Sumo Sheffield

Sumo Sheffield is located just outside the city centre in Sumo Digital's HQ, just off J34 on the M1 and a stone's throw from the city's primary shopping and leisure complex. With a multi-building campus comprised of industry-leading facilities, an onsite gym and subsidised canteen, Sumo Sheffield provides everything needed for all teams to create the world's best games.

Sheffield is the fifth largest city in the UK and is easily accessible by road and rail from Leeds, Manchester and the Midlands. The city enjoys a wealth of facilities to suit a wide array of interests, including:

o World-class sports facilities

o Iconic theatres and galleries

o Multiple retail and shopping experiences

o Diverse and renowned restaurants and eateries

o The award-winning National Video Game Museum

More about Sumo Digital

Sumo Digital is an award-winning international family of studios. Recent releases from Sumo Digital studios include: BAFTA-Award winning Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Hood: Outlaws & Legends, Control Ultimate Edition on Google Stadia, Apple Arcade Award-winning Little Orpheus, Hot Shot Racing, WST Snooker and Spyder.

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