Job Title:

VFX Lead

Requisition ID:

R020938

Job Description:

Your Platform

Founded in 2002, Infinity Ward is the original studio behind the Call of Duty® franchise. The titles developed by Infinity Ward have won more than 200 "Game of the Year" awards and 100 "Editor's Choice" awards, among many other industry accolades. Some of our previous titles include: Call of Duty®: Ghosts, Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare and most recently, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare.

A critically acclaimed studio, Infinity Ward is proud to have one of the most passionate and talented development teams in the industry.  We love to have as much fun as the games we create, and it shows in our relaxed, yet diligent, workplace environment.  We believe that making the best games relies on having the best people, so we like to look after ours. We enjoy having fun with top-notch events that everyone gets involved with.

Infinity Ward is wholly owned by Activision. To learn more about our studio, please visit us at https://www.infinityward.com/, on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/InfinityWard/, and @InfinityWard on Twitter.

Your Mission

Your mission is to inspire, mentor, and lead a team of high-caliber VFX artists in creating immersive and compelling visual effects that will be enjoyed by millions of gamers across the globe.  You will be a trusted gatekeeper for performance, efficiency, and quality.  You will provide your team with guidance, goals, opportunities, and resources.  Our Lead VFX Artists are role-models that not only manage the team through challenge and change, but also build up individuals into highly engaged, efficient, and effective teammates.  Above all, we are looking for an innovative and dedicated leader to help tell our story.  Above all, we are looking for an innovative and dedicated leader to help tell our story.
 

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Creative Directors, Designers, Engineers, Artists, Producers, and Animators to deliver epic visual content for world-class player experiences.

• Research subject matter relating to objectives to ensure an authentic experience.

• Design and implement photoreal real-time particle effects using proprietary particle editor.

• Create FX textures using 3rd party software such as Houdini, Photoshop, …  

• Support your team in optimizing and troubleshooting VFX setups produced by your team.

• Be a proactive self-starter that can independently execute high-level direction.

• Be a trusted gatekeeper for performance, efficiency, and quality.

• Define team goals, action plans, and schedules for the project.

• Provide your team with consistent guidance, goals, opportunities, and resources.

• Lead, task, mentor and conduct one-to-one meetings with your VFX Artists.

• Play builds of games in-progress and provide concise and prioritized feedback to both internal teams and external partners.

• Empower VFX artists to thrive on open and welcome constructive criticism.

• Champion best practices and advocate towards streamlining tools and processes.

• Interface with other teams to ensure VFX requirements and plans are understood.

• Contribute creative and original ideas towards all aspects of game production and development.

Minimum Requirements:

• 8+ total years in the games industry working in a VFX capacity, and/or film or equivalent experience.

• with at least 3 shipped title in the AAA console / PC space.

• 2+ years and at least 1 shipped title as a Lead VFX Artist.

• Ability to lead by example echoed through a professional and egoless personality.

• Highly skilled in all areas of 3D VFX principals and techniques for console hardware (Xbox, PS, PC).

• Possesses in-depth understanding of game engines, pipelines, and processes.

• Rock-solid communication and problem-solving skills.

• Proven ability to thrive in a challenging and often ambiguous environment.

• Strong understanding of game VFX with ability to clearly discuss modern trends.

• Inspiring reel demonstrating a focus and commitment to excellent visual effects and process.

Extra Points:

• Experience in a secondary area such as texturing, modeling, animation, or lighting.

• Professional experience with Houdini, 3D Max, Maya and or other dynamic simulation packages.

• Coding experience in Python or other high level scripting languages

• Strong traditional art foundation.

• Experience creating VFX shaders.

• Experience and comfort in Unreal, Unity or other modern game engines.

• Passion for the Call of Duty franchise.

• History of playing a variety of game genres both digital and physical.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! At Activision Blizzard, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment.  We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

Infinity Ward is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $97,200.00 - $179,900.00 Annual. This base pay range is for the U.S. and is not applicable to locations outside of the U.S. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed.