About the role
Company Overview
Media Molecule is a Guildford-based game developer and part of the PlayStation Studios group. The studio has a history of creating award-winning titles including LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, and Dreams.
Engagement Details
- Role: Principal Technical Artist
- Type: Short-term contingent engagement via staffing partner, Yoh Services
- Duration: Until the end of July 2027
- Location: Central Guildford studio
- Working Model: Hybrid or remote in the UK; preference for 1 day a week onsite in Guildford
Role Overview
The Principal Technical Artist serves as a subject-matter expert for the Art Department, applying prior experience to drive quality, technical excellence, and best practices across the project. Impact is achieved through analysis, documentation, education, solving complex challenges, and providing guidance to elevate the wider team. While the role may involve direct contributions to tools, VFX, or art, the primary focus is on collaborative improvements.
Responsibilities
- Refine, document, and champion best practices for artistic content creation.
- Partner with art and technology teams to identify fidelity and performance issues and suggest or implement suitable solutions.
- Support and educate artists to maximize efficient use of tools and workflows.
- Collaborate with key stakeholders to define suitable benchmarks and settings for target configurations and platforms.
Requirements
- Previous experience in a similar level technical art role.
- Expertise in modern art pipelines, specifically materials, lighting, grading, and environmental art.
- Extensive knowledge of 3D digital content creation tools (e.g., Blender, Substance).
- Competence with performance analysis tools (e.g., heatmaps, frame-time graphs).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Proactive, pragmatic, and collaborative approach to problem-solving.
Desirable Skills
- Experience with C++ and/or Python to build tools for creative disciplines.
Benefits
- 25 days holiday and 8 bank holidays per year.
- Flexitime working (where approved).
- Free car parking facilities.
- Onsite canteen.
- Access to cycle garage and showers.
Additional Information
Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees, which may include criminal background checks for certain roles. Personal information will be processed to support these checks. Refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice for information regarding data collection, usage, sharing, and protection rights.