Lead Concept Artist (Stylized Games | Art Direction)

Job description

**This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead Concept Artist (Stylized Games | Art Direction) based remotely in France.** Shape the visual identity of immersive game worlds through distinctive concept art, strong artistic direction, and hands-on creative leadership. In this role, you will guide the development of characters, environments, props, and other game assets, transforming creative briefs and gameplay ideas into compelling visual concepts. You will establish cohesive artistic styles, define visual benchmarks, and help ensure that concepts translate effectively into production-ready assets. Combining individual artistic contribution with team mentorship, you will elevate creative quality while encouraging exploration and innovation. Working closely with art directors, designers, and multidisciplinary production teams, you will balance artistic ambition with gameplay clarity and technical feasibility. This is an opportunity to influence the creative direction of game projects and help a talented team deliver memorable visual experiences. ### Accountabilities: You will lead concept art development and establish the artistic standards that guide projects from early exploration through production. Combining hands-on creative work with team leadership, you will ensure visual consistency, originality, and production readiness. Your responsibilities will include: - **Concept Art and Visual Direction:** Lead the development of concepts for characters, environments, props, and other game content, translating creative briefs, narrative ideas, and gameplay requirements into compelling visual designs. - **Artistic Identity and Style Development:** Define visual language, shape design, composition, color palettes, and artistic direction to establish a cohesive identity across different types of game assets. - **Hands-On Concept Creation:** Produce key art explorations, sketches, paintovers, and production-ready concept designs that communicate creative ideas clearly and effectively. - **Visual References and Benchmarks:** Develop reference materials, art guidelines, and visual benchmarks that help 2D and 3D production teams maintain quality and consistency. - **Creative Leadership and Mentorship:** Contribute directly to concept production while mentoring artists, guiding visual exploration, and supporting team members through creative and production challenges. - **Artistic Feedback and Quality Control:** Review concept work and provide actionable feedback and paintovers to improve visual appeal, readability, originality, and overall design quality. - **Workflow and Standards Development:** Help establish effective concept art workflows, artistic guidelines, and quality standards that strengthen collaboration and improve production outcomes. - **Cross-Functional Collaboration:** Work closely with Art Directors, Game Designers, Character Artists, Environment Artists, and Technical Artists to align visual concepts with project objectives. - **Production Feasibility:** Ensure designs account for technical constraints, gameplay readability, and implementation requirements while preserving the intended artistic vision. - **Visual Consistency:** Maintain alignment between early concept exploration and final in-game presentation, communicating artistic decisions clearly across distributed teams. - **Creative Problem-Solving:** Take ownership of concept quality, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop solutions to artistic and production challenges. **Requirements:** You are an accomplished concept artist with a strong portfolio, excellent artistic fundamentals, and the ability to guide creative teams toward a cohesive visual direction. You combine hands-on drawing and painting skills with sound design judgment, clear communication, and an understanding of game production requirements. The ideal candidate will bring: - At least six years of professional concept art experience in game development. - Proven experience as a Lead Concept Artist, Senior Concept Artist with leadership responsibilities, or in an equivalent position. - Experience contributing to commercially released game productions. - An exceptional portfolio demonstrating strong artistic fundamentals, design thinking, and visual storytelling. - A thorough understanding of composition, color, lighting, perspective, anatomy, and shape language. - The ability to establish and maintain a cohesive artistic style across different asset types and creative disciplines. - Excellent hands-on painting, sketching, and visual exploration skills. - Experience mentoring artists, reviewing creative work, and delivering clear, constructive, actionable feedback. - The ability to transform abstract ideas and creative briefs into compelling, production-ready designs. - Strong communication and collaboration skills, including experience working with multidisciplinary teams. - Fluency in English. **Bonus Skills:** - A strong background in stylized game art and visual development. - Experience designing distinctive characters with memorable personalities and emotional appeal. - Familiarity with simplified, pixel-inspired, or highly stylized artistic approaches. - Understanding of Unity3D or Unreal Engine production pipelines. - Experience using Blender or other 3D tools to support concept exploration. - Experience supporting Art Directors on large, multidisciplinary productions. - Previous experience in cross-studio co-development environments. **Benefits:** - **Artistic influence:** Play a meaningful role in shaping the visual direction and identity of game projects. - **Team leadership:** Lead, mentor, and develop a talented concept art team. - **Creative ownership:** Enjoy a hands-on role with significant influence over artistic decisions and concept quality. - **International collaboration:** Work with experienced artists and creative leaders across disciplines. - **Remote flexibility:** Join a remote-friendly working environment. - **Competitive compensation:** Receive a competitive package, with specific details depending on the agreed arrangement. - **Flexible contract options:** Explore contract arrangements suited to long-term collaboration. - **Professional growth:** Develop your creative leadership and artistic expertise through challenging game development projects. - **Supportive studio culture:** Participate in annual team retreats and collaborate in an environment that encourages creativity and teamwork.