Environment Art Outsource Lead

Epic Games • Cary, NC

5d • $165,686 - $235,016

About The Position

Epic Games is seeking an experienced Environment Outsource Lead to support and supervise creative content produced by outsource partners. The role provides front-line creative feedback on submitted work and is primarily supervisory, while requiring a strong hands-on art background, particularly in Environment Art, and experience with game studio pipelines.

The ideal candidate can communicate effectively with external artists and maintain pipeline documentation, gather or create benchmark and technical example assets, collect photo references, create asset blockouts and simple blockout paintovers, and package files for external artists. The position works with internal leadership and cross-disciplinary teams to establish visual direction, communicate production requirements, review and improve assets, and keep delivered content consistent and technically game-ready. It also explores emerging tools and workflows and identifies opportunities to integrate creative technologies into existing art pipelines.

The position is open to multiple locations across the United States, including California, New York City, and Washington. The listed annual base pay ranges are $172,262–$235,016 for New York City and $165,686–$220,915 for California and Washington. Most employees are eligible to participate in benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs, subject to their terms.

Requirements

• Experience shipping AAA titles across multiple platforms.
• Experience shipping production assets for games, 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 loops.
• Strong understanding of technical hurdles and ability to make autonomous decisions that advance art quality.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience working in a team and a high-pressure production environment.

Responsibilities

• Work with Lead- and Director-level staff to establish visual direction for outsourcing vendors.
• Collect or create detailed documentation, video references, and examples of art asset production, procedures, and engine requirements for external vendors.
• Clearly communicate feedback 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 being created.
• Make needed fixes so assets remain consistent and technically game-ready when handed off by outsource partners.
• Provide prototype meshes with accurate scale and pivot placement, accounting for technical constraints such as vertex-count management, 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.

Benefits

• Benefit plans (most employees are eligible, subject to plan terms).
• Discretionary incentive programs (most employees are eligible, subject to program terms).

What This Job Offers

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