Principal, Technical Art Direction

Aechelon Technology • San Mateo, CA

6h • $210,320 - $315,480

About The Position

The Principal, Technical Art Direction owns runtime art direction for simulation products for humans and machines and reports to the VP of Product. Acting as a product manager for visual quality, this role defines targets and acceptance criteria, guides engineering iteration, and partners with the Database team’s Art Director to achieve photorealistic results. The focus is on faithfully reproducing real-world appearance and physical behavior within real-time performance constraints, including reality’s imperfections, ambiguity, and reduced visibility rather than beautifying scenes or adding cinematic effects. The role requires strong visual judgment and real-time graphics knowledge, along with the ability to work independently and lead through influence to turn artistic intent into actionable guidance for engineers and artists.

Requirements

• Degree in art, computer graphics, technical art, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• 10+ years in game art, art direction, technical art, or related disciplines, including senior responsibility for visual quality on AAA games or comparable real-time products.
• Excellent visual judgment and deep knowledge of 3D art, lighting, materials, surface detail, and perceptual cues that make rendered environments look realistic.
• Ability to diagnose visual shortcomings, define a clear target using references, and provide precise, actionable feedback to artists and engineers.
• Ability to lead through collaboration and influence and drive progress independently.
• Experience working directly with graphics engineers on game engine development, with sufficient rendering knowledge to discuss technical approaches, understand constraints, and make informed visual tradeoffs.
• Proficiency with relevant 3D and 2D tools, such as Maya and Photoshop.

Nice To Haves

• Shader authoring, scripting, or programming experience.

Responsibilities

• Tune existing runtime features to improve visual quality.
• Stay current with graphics techniques and industry practice, and work with engineers to evaluate their potential visual benefits and practical limitations.
• Guide graphics engineers through visual reviews of prototypes and implemented features.
• Evaluate rendered scenes, diagnose visual problems, and communicate specific improvements through reference imagery, annotated comparisons, and demonstrations using 3D, 2D, and engine tools.
• Translate runtime visual goals into clear requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Prioritize runtime visual improvements with Product Management and Engineering, balancing realism impact against implementation effort and performance constraints.
• Partner with the Database Art Director to review runtime content, identify improvements to content quality and authoring practices, and distinguish content issues from limitations requiring engineering changes.
• Help QA’s perceptual image-diff comparison pipeline determine whether visual anomalies are intended.

Benefits

• Company performance-based profit sharing.
• 401(k).
• 100% employer-paid health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life, short-term disability, and long-term disability plans.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal