System Era Softworks

System Era is searching for a Senior Concept Artist to join our creative team and help shape the vibrant worlds of Astroneer! 

As the team’s primary concept artist, the galaxy of Astroneer becomes your canvas. Here you will be responsible for creating a wide variety of artwork to support the production of exciting new features and explorations across every stage of development.  From envisioning fresh new worlds full of exotic flora, to the vehicles, props, and characters that are designed to explore them. Bringing these ideas to life will mean collaborating closely with the design and narrative teams to visualize and shape gameplay goals with early sketches, mood boards, and constructive feedback.  Transforming pre-production work into production ready design sheets along with constructive feedback will be essential as you help guide the content team’s creation of final assets.  Ensuring that assets remain consistent to the brand while also leveraging bold designs to communicate gameplay function and player interaction.  And beyond individual assets, the team will look to your expertise when establishing visual paradigms used to define the look and feel of new content types.  A keen eye for detail and excellent communication skills will be important as you work to balance the overall art style with the needs of the games unique diegetic UI.  

On this journey you will be collaborating with a highly motivated team of individuals who are each responsible for contributing to the growth and well-being of the project and studio through open and honest discussion.  We look for candidates who value joining a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences, interests, and viewpoints, so we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification, as long as you believe you have something positive to contribute.  

This is a full-time position. Compensation includes salary, benefits with full medical, vision, and dental coverage, 401k with company match, generous PTO policy, participation in profit sharing, equipment budget for remote work, and may include relocation assistance. 

Please note that due to COVID-19, the System Era team is currently working remotely. As it becomes safe and reasonable to do so, the studio will transition to a hybrid work schedule combining both on-site and remote work. Unless otherwise noted, all our open positions will begin as remote work, but with the expectation of eventual co-location with the team in Seattle, WA. New employees from outside of Washington state will be expected to establish residency in Washington within 14 days of their start date. 

  

Responsibilities: 

• Work closely with project leads to define, maintain, and expand the project's core visual direction  
• Visualize planetary environment designs with detailed breakdowns and concepts call-outs of supporting assets 
• Create a wide variety of production concepts for props, characters, vehicles, and environmental content 

• Illustrate early explorations of new features to help inform the feature design and provide contextual examples 
• Support the content teams with guidance and feedback to ensure an accurate translation of concepts into 3D 
• Work directly with external partners on the creation of specialized or supplemental illustration work 
• Collaborate with other disciplines to translate gameplay and narrative design goals into concept examples  
• Provide insights on aesthetic and functional considerations when in collaborative problem-solving discussions with other disciplines 

• Work with Art Director to establish visual systems and guidelines for the creation of new content families 
• Take part in the creation of art content designed for marketing and PR needs 
• Perform research and reference gathering in support of the visual development of new features 
• Support ongoing development by actively participating in design reviews, playtests, and feedback sessions 

Qualifications: 

• 5+ Years industry experience as a Concept Artist 
• Online portfolio with high quality examples that showcase strong stylization and a variety of subject matter 
• Demonstrated ability to clearly communicate functional elements and gameplay design considerations in concepts 
• Previous experience designing hardsurface props and/or vehicles 
• Expert proficiency with Photoshop or comparable 2D content creation software 

• Strong understanding of artistic fundamentals and a solid use of color, composition, and form 
• Self-motivated, excellent communication skills, and the ability to provide instruction 
• Experience working with offsite team members or outsource partners 
• Ability to quickly iterate and adapt when in collaborative work scenarios 
• A general understanding of the 3D art and animation asset pipelines 

Nice To Have: 

• 3D art experience such as modeling, sculpting, or rendering 
• Unreal Engine experience 
• Solid understanding of Astroneer’s art style 
• An interest in science fiction, aerospace, and space exploration