About the role
Company Overview
Kalank is a video game development studio and publisher founded in 2017 in Angoulême. The studio comprises over 25 employees, including a multidisciplinary art team, and produces approximately ten projects per year across VR, mobile, PC, and console platforms. Productions encompass work-for-hire, co-development, and internal creations with project cycles ranging from 6 to 24 months. Recent titles include Smurfs Flower Defense (VR) and Scan or Scam (VR). The studio culture emphasizes collective work, comfort, and openness to varied game formats.
Description
The studio is creating this position to lead and structure its artistic direction. The role involves transverse involvement in approximately ten projects per year, focusing on varied visual styles (primarily stylized, occasionally realistic) almost exclusively in 3D. The Art Director manages internal artists and external providers, defines visual universes, ensures visual coherence from concept to delivery, and spends approximately 50% of time on direct production (concepts, key illustrations, assets).
Responsibilities
Management of Art Team and Providers
- Supervise studio artists across multiple concurrent projects: assign projects based on expertise, provide daily follow-up, and handle mediations.
- Select and manage external providers, freelancers, and partner studios: define artistic briefs, scope requirements, and control quality and deadlines.
- Conduct individual and annual reviews in collaboration with the HR manager and develop skills improvement plans.
- Provide creative guidance to artists, review production, and elevate collective output.
- Manage artistic recruitment: define needs, create assessment tests, conduct interviews, and track integration.
Transverse Artistic Direction
- Define the graphic universe for each project: research, documentation, concepts, style guides, and model sheets.
- Translate game design intentions or client requests into visual bias and argue these points before publishers, brands, and creative management.
- Validate visual coherence at every stage, from pre-production to final delivery, and lead art reviews.
- Mediate between artistic ambition, technical constraints, and budget in direct coordination with technical management and producers.
- Establish and maintain studio art standards: pipelines, naming conventions, and shared asset/material libraries.
- Maintain active monitoring of graphic trends and tools, disseminating relevant information to teams.
Production
- Produce concepts, illustrations, and key assets directly, and provide reinforcements for high-pressure production tasks.
- Estimate artistic workloads before projects begin, evaluate feasibility, and alert management to risks.
- Serve as the artistic interface for third-party teams in co-development and work-for-hire contexts.
Qualifications
- Minimum 8 years of experience in graphic creation for video games.
- Experience in an art direction or lead role on a project carried through to delivery.
- Mastery of 2D tools (Photoshop, Substance Painter, etc.) and at least one 3D software (Blender, Maya, 3ds Max).
- Strong understanding of the artistic pipeline within a game engine, preferably Unity: integration, rendering constraints, and optimization.
- Solid fundamentals in image creation: composition, colorimetry, anatomy, principles of animated imagery, graphic culture, and art history.
- Ability to defend a creative vision: must be able to present, argue, and negotiate choices before publishers or clients and unite a team around a direction.
- Rigor and organizational skills: ability to structure work across multiple concurrent projects and maintain a clear course.
- Professional fluency in English for regular exchanges with international publishers and partners.
Preferred Skills (The "Plus")
- Versatility in style: ability to transition between cartoon universes and realistic rendering.
- Experience in VR or mobile development, including performance constraint management.
- Experience in a studio growth phase (e.g., scaling from 10 to 50 employees).
Benefits and Compensation
- A key position created to lead studio strategy in direct link with management.
- Variety of projects, visual universes, and platforms with short production cycles.
- Remuneration starting from 45,000 EUR gross annually, adjustable based on profile and involvement.
- Executive health insurance (Mutuelle cadre), restaurant vouchers, mobility bonuses, and potential profit-sharing to be negotiated.
- Annual allowance of remote work days.
- Relocation assistance provided for those moving to the Angoulême region.
Location
The studio is located in Angoulême, a primary hub for image and video games in France. It offers a high quality of life and a lower cost of living compared to major metropolises. Paris is less than two hours away by TGV and Bordeaux is thirty minutes away. New offices starting January 2027 will be located two minutes' walk from the Angoulême train station.