Environment Art Outsource Lead

Epic Games • Cary, NC

4d

About The Position

Epic Games is seeking an experienced Environment Outsource Lead to support and supervise creative content produced by external partners. The role is mainly supervisory and provides front-line creative feedback on submitted work, while drawing on a strong hands-on background in environment art and experience with game studio pipelines. The successful candidate will communicate effectively with outsource partners, maintain pipeline documentation, develop or collect benchmark and technical example assets and references, create asset blockouts and simple paintovers, and package files for external artists.

The role works with Lead- and Director-level colleagues to establish visual direction for outsourcing vendors, and coordinates across internal disciplines to understand asset needs and goals. The lead helps ensure outsourced assets meet creative goals, remain consistent and technically game-ready, and are delivered with clear documentation and feedback. They will also explore tools and workflows that improve the efficiency, quality, and consistency of outsourced environment art production, including opportunities to integrate emerging creative technologies into existing pipelines.

Requirements

• Experience shipping AAA titles across multiple platforms.
• Experience shipping game production 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 able to work well as a team player.
• Ability to critique, mentor, and improve art through written feedback.
• Strong understanding of technical hurdles and ability to make autonomous choices that improve art quality.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience working within a team and a high-pressure production environment.
• Hands-on art background, especially in Environment Art, and experience with game studio pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Work with Lead- and Director-level colleagues to establish visual direction for outsourcing vendors.
• Collect or create documentation, video references, and examples describing art asset production, procedures, and engine requirements for external vendors.
• Communicate creative feedback to outsource partners, ensure notes and goals are met, and inform leadership when they are not.
• Coordinate with artists, level designers, game designers, and production to understand the needs and goals of props being created.
• Make necessary fixes to maintain asset consistency and technical readiness when assets are handed off by outsource partners.
• Provide prototype meshes with accurate scale and pivot placement, accounting for technical constraints such as vertex counts, material setup, and PBR texture creation.
• Explore 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.
• Maintain pipeline documentation; collect photo references and benchmark or technical example assets; create asset blockouts and simple blockout paintovers; and package files for external artists.
• Critique and mentor artists and improve art through written feedback loops.

Benefits

• Company-paid premiums for medical, dental, Vision HRA, long-term disability, and life insurance coverage 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.
• Company events and company-wide paid breaks.
• Unlimited PTO and sick time.
• Paid sabbatical after 7 years of employment.

What This Job Offers

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