Environment Art Outsource Lead

Epic Games • Cary, NC

5d

About The Position

Epic Games is seeking an experienced Environment Outsource Lead to support and supervise creative content from outsource partners. This primarily supervisory role also requires an experienced artist with a hands-on background in game studio pipelines, particularly Environment Art. The role provides front-line creative feedback, helps establish visual direction with leadership, and ensures outsourced work meets creative goals and technical requirements. It also involves preparing references, documentation, benchmark assets, blockouts, and files for external artists, while exploring tools and workflows that improve outsourced production.

Requirements

• Experience shipping AAA titles across multiple platforms.
• Experience shipping production game assets, specifically in the Environment discipline.
• Strong understanding of current game-art creation tools, including Unreal Engine 5, Substance Painter, Marmoset, Perforce, and 3D modeling packages.
• Familiarity with emerging creative technologies and evolving art-production workflows, and willingness to explore new approaches and participate in content creation.
• Highly organized, self-driven, customer-focused, and a strong team player.
• Ability to critique, mentor, and improve art through written feedback.
• Understanding of technical hurdles and ability to make autonomous choices that improve art quality.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience working on a team and in a high-pressure production environment.

Responsibilities

• Work with Lead- and Director-level staff to establish visual direction for outsourcing vendors.
• Create or collect detailed documentation, video references, and examples covering asset production, procedures, and engine requirements for external vendors.
• Communicate feedback clearly to outsource partners, ensure creative notes and goals are met, and inform leadership when they are not.
• Coordinate across artists, level designers, game designers, and production to understand the needs and goals for props.
• Make necessary fixes so assets remain consistent and technically game-ready when delivered by outsource partners.
• Provide prototype meshes with accurate scale and pivot placement, accounting for technical constraints such as vertex count, material setup, and PBR texture creation.
• Explore and use emerging tools and workflows to improve efficiency, quality, and consistency in outsourced environment art production.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to identify opportunities to integrate new creative technologies into existing art pipelines.
• Support external artists by maintaining pipeline documentation and preparing benchmark or technical example assets, photo references, asset blockouts, simple blockout paintovers, and packaged files.
• Critique, mentor, and improve art through written feedback loops.

Benefits

• The company pays 100% of medical, dental, vision HRA, long-term disability, life insurance, and 401(k) premiums for employees and dependents.
• 401(k) with competitive match.
• Mental well-being program through Modern Health, including free therapy and coaching for employees and dependents.
• Employee events and company-wide paid breaks.
• Unlimited PTO and sick time.
• Paid sabbatical after seven years of employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed